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Chris Rock claims he turned down an offer to host the Oscars next year.
Rock made the claim during a show in Phoenix, according to the Arizona Republic. Deadline reports that Rock was also offered a Super Bowl commercial, but declined that as well.
Rock was the victim of an on-stage attack at this year's Academy Awards ceremony. Will Smith slapped Rock on live TV after he joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's short hairstyle.
Months after the slap, Smith publicly apologized to Rock.
"My behavior was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk," Smith said.
Smith has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years for the slap. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/chris-rock-claims-he-was-asked-to-host-next-years-oscars | 2022-08-30T18:40:39Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/chris-rock-claims-he-was-asked-to-host-next-years-oscars | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The only known Navy ace to shoot down German and Japanese planes during World War II has died.
According to his daughter, Dean "Diz" Laird died Aug. 10 at the age of 101.
The California native was born in 1921.
At 20, he joined the Navy, days after Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Laird also flew in the Korean and Vietnam wars, totaling 32 trans-pacific flights.
After serving 29 years, Laird retired as a commander from the Navy in 1971. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/famed-wwii-fighter-pilot-dean-laird-dies-at-101 | 2022-08-30T18:40:45Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/famed-wwii-fighter-pilot-dean-laird-dies-at-101 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Authorities in Virginia say a hawk is recovering after it got caught in a car's grill over the weekend.
The Fairfax County Police Department said they received a call on Saturday from a driver who said a hawk was stuck in its car grill.
Officers said the incident happened near Interstate 66 and Interstate 495.
The department said that a Fairfax County animal protection officer responded and removed the hawk from the vehicle.
The officer then arranged for the bird to be taken to a licensed wildlife rehab center for treatment, the department said. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/virginia-officer-rescues-hawk-trapped-in-car-grill | 2022-08-30T18:41:28Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/virginia-officer-rescues-hawk-trapped-in-car-grill | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Artemis: Everything you need to know about humanity’s return to the Moon
The ambitious project aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
NASA is ready to kick-start an exciting new era of space exploration by launching the first mission in its Artemis programme. Artemis 1 aims to demonstrate new rocket technology that will be key in achieving the ultimate goal of the project: returning astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972.
“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” says Mike Sarafin, Artemis 1 mission manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”
On Artemis 1, an uncrewed capsule called Orion will journey around the Moon. Artemis 2 will see a crew orbit the Moon without landing, followed by Artemis 3 carrying the first female astronaut and astronaut of colour to the lunar surface later this decade.
This time, the space agency plans to maintain a permanent presence on the Moon. In the words of one of the project’s chief engineers, “to advance from a 20th-Century Moon shot, to a 21st-Century Moon stay.”
If all goes to plan then Artemis could eventually become as famous as Apollo in the annals of space history.
When is the Artemis 1 launch?
The first launch on 29 August 2022 was scrubbed after engineers found an 'engine bleed'. The team was unable to get one of the four RS-25 engines (on the bottom of the rocket’s core stage) to the proper temperature range for liftoff.
Meanwhile, the rocket and Orion spacecraft remain in a safe and stable configuration.
The next launch window will be on Friday 2 September 2022, at 12:48 p.m BST (just before 8am EST, local time in Florida). The launch window will be open for two hours, but as yet, is unconfirmed.
Engineers are continuing to gather additional data, but if bad weather or other delays prevent the launch attempt on 2 September, the next window after that will be on 5 September 2022.
How to watch the Artemis 1 launch
If you can’t make it to Florida to see it in person, NASA is launching The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) which will allow you to track the mission’s every move.
“[It’s] a really powerful way to engage with the mission and understand the scope of what NASA is trying to accomplish with Artemis 1,” says Seth Lambert, the Orion programmer who created AROW.
Further details will be announced on the @NASA_Orion Twitter feed, once the date for the next launch attempt is confirmed.
When to tune in to the Artemis launch
Artemis 1 will launch from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida - most of the Apollo missions launched from 39A, but that is currently being leased by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
On Monday 22nd August, NASA officials conducted a flight-readiness review for the first launch attempt.
“We are go for launch, which is absolutely outstanding,” said NASA’s Robert Cabana at a press conference after the review. “This day has been a long time coming.”
It is likely that another flight-readiness review will be conducted for the next attempt.
The Artemis programme began in 2017 and the first launch window was on the morning of Monday 29th August between 08:33 and 10:33 local time (between 1:33 pm and 5:33 pm BST). The first launch was officially scrubbed at 8:34 local time (1:34 pm BST).
The next possible launch windows will be on the 2nd and 5th of September 2022. As of Tuesday 30 August 2022, the date of the next attempt is still to be confirmed.
What is the Space Launch System?
One of the most impressive parts of Artemis 1 is the brand new mega-rocket that will loft it into space: the Space Launch System - or SLS for short.
“SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built,” says former acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “[It's] an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering America’s next-generation missions.”
SLS will accelerate the Orion capsule to speeds of nearly 40,000 km/h and generate 15 per cent more thrust than the famous Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. It’s powered by four RS-25 engines, with each one weighing as much as an elephant and standing as high as a double-decker bus.
When it launches with the Orion capsule on top, the whole structure will be almost 100 metres tall. That’s the equivalent of two Olympic size swimming pools or taller than the Statue of Liberty. It will weigh more than 2600 tonnes - about the same as 20 blue whales. It is capable of delivering 27 tonnes of payload to an orbit beyond the Moon. They’ll tweak the configuration when it comes to sending a human crew, ramping up the total payload to 38 tonnes.
Each launch costs over $2 billion and the whole project has cost $23 billion.
What is the Orion capsule?
The Orion capsule, named after the famous constellation in the night sky, is designed to be a home away from home for the next generation of astronauts. It comes in three key parts, the main one being the Crew Module. There's space for four astronauts – one more than the crews of three who flew on the original Apollo moon landing missions.
It'll definitely be cosy in there as the module has an overall habitable capacity of just nine cubic metres. That's only about 60 per cent of the volume you'll find in the back of a Transit van.
Yet it is the Service Module, designed and built by the European Space Agency, that does most of the work. It provides the propulsion to fling Orion out of Earth orbit and on a rendezvous path with the Moon. The Service Module will also supply water and air to the crew on later Artemis missions (Artemis 1 is uncrewed).
The final part of Orion is no less important. Space travel is dangerous, with a history of emergencies on launch. The Launch Abort System can react within milliseconds and quickly blast the Crew Module away from the rocket and launch pad for a safe splashdown in the ocean.
What’s on board the Orion capsule and why?
Without any astronauts on board Artemis 1, there is space to include other 'passengers' in the Crew Capsule.
Commander Moonikn Campos is a mannequin being used to measure the effects of accelerations and vibrations on future human astronauts. Named after Arturo Campos, an engineer who helped to save the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, he is pictured here in the commander’s seat of Orion wearing an Orion Crew Survival System flight suit - the same uniform that will be worn by the Artemis 2 and 3 crews.
A pair of anatomically correct torso analogues named Helga and Zohar positioned onboard Orion will be used to study the effects of radiation on the human body during lunar flight. They are made of materials specifically designed to mimic bones, soft tissue and organs.
And here are just some of the quirky things that will fly around the Moon as part of the Artemis 1 Official Flight Kit:
- A doll of the cartoon character Snoopy, decked out in the iconic NASA orange jumpsuit, will act as a zero gravity indicator.
- The European Space Agency have chosen Shaun the Sheep, from Aardman's Wallace and Gromit series, as their toy. “Although it might be a small step for a human, it’s a giant leap for lambkind,” says David Parker, ESA’s Director for Human and Robotic Exploration. Shaun travelled across Europe and the US to “train” for the mission and his journey was documented and presented in a series of ESA blog posts leading up to the launch as part of their media campaign.
- Lego is getting in on the action, too. Four mini figures – Kate, Kyle, Julia and Sebastian – will fly on Artemis 1. "Our hope is that including Kate and Kyle in this space mission will excite students about the possibilities of STEAM careers and engage them in their own learning journey," said Esben Stærk, president of LEGO Education.
- A moon rock sample and an engine bolt from Apollo 11, tie Artemis to Apollo. This follows a long-standing tradition as Neil Armstrong took a piece of the Wright Brothers' first successful aircraft to the Moon in 1969.
The Artemis 1 flight path
After hurtling towards the Moon for several days, Orion will travel within 100 kilometres of the lunar surface. This allows mission controllers to use the Moon's gravity to fling Orion out to a distant orbit some 70,000km beyond the Moon. After six days of collecting valuable data from orbit, the return home begins.
It will travel back towards the Moon's surface to get another kick in the direction of the Earth. The plan is to splash down in the sea close to a recovery ship off the coast of Baja, California. A team of divers will inspect the spacecraft before it is hauled back to shore, completing a four-to-six-week, two-million-km round trip.
What's next for the Artemis mission?
If everything goes smoothly with Artemis 1 then four astronauts will fly on the next mission, Artemis 2, currently scheduled for launch in May 2024. The plan is to fly around the back of the Moon and return to the Earth. The crew will set the record for the furthest humans have ever travelled into space.
Next, Artemis 3 is the one for the history books. In 2026 astronauts will land on the Moon for the first time since Gene Cernan became the last person to leave the lunar surface back in 1972. Two astronauts will spend a week close to the Moon’s South Pole and conduct experiments including prospecting for lunar water. Another two will stay in lunar orbit.
In August 2022 NASA shortlisted thirteen potential landing sites, all within six degrees of the lunar South Pole.
“Several of the proposed sites within the regions are located among some of the oldest parts of the Moon, and together with the permanently shadowed regions, provide the opportunity to learn about the history of the Moon through previously unstudied lunar materials,” says Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead for NASA’s Planetary Science Division.
Then it will be time to build a permanent presence away from Low Earth Orbit. The key goal of this mission, Artemis 4, is to help build Gateway - a space station in orbit around the Moon. Currently slated for 2027, it would act as a staging post for future trips to the lunar surface.
Who are the Artemis astronauts?
We don’t know exactly who is flying yet, but we do have some limited information. The Artemis 2 crew will consist of three NASA astronauts and a colleague from the Canadian Space Agency. It will be the first time a non-NASA astronaut has left Low Earth Orbit.
The crew of Artemis 3 hasn’t been publicly revealed either, but NASA have promised to land the first female astronaut and first astronaut of colour on the Moon. They will come from the wider Artemis team, a collection of 18 astronauts - 9 women and 9 men - already revealed by NASA. Half of them have never flown into space before. Arguably none are household names yet, but that will surely change.
Artemis astronaut Kate Rubins, who became the first scientist to sequence DNA in space back in 2016, perhaps put it best when she said: “"When we're having dark times, to think of the fact that we might have people on the planet able to look up and know that there are humans on the moon... I can't even describe what kind of benefits that might [bring].”
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- Receive every issue delivered direct to your door with FREE UK delivery. | https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/artemis/ | 2022-08-30T18:42:41Z | sciencefocus.com | control | https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/artemis/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
QUITE A CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR WHERE YOU CAME IN AS THE FAVORITE WITH ALL OF YOUR WINS AND PLAYOFF POINTS. WHAT’S IT LIKE JUST BEING IN A POSITION NOW WHERE YOU’RE BACK TO BEING THE ‘HUNTER’ AND TRYING TO DEFEND THIS CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I don’t know.. I haven’t put much thought into that. Obviously when you look at the points; I think last year, we had 40-something, maybe closer to 50 playoff points, as we headed into the playoffs. This year, I think we only have 19. It already adds a little bit more pressure on each race knowing that you need to go get stage points, stages wins, race wins, all of that, to help out your post-regular season.
This first round sets up really nice for us and our team. There are three really great tracks for us, so I think it’s a good opportunity for us to have a good few showings; get some playoff points and try to put ourselves in a better spot as we approach the next couple of rounds.”
LAST YEAR WAS REALLY THE FIRST YEAR THAT YOU HAD A DEEP PLAYOFF RUN, WHERE YOU WENT THROUGH EACH OF THE ROUNDS AND YOU GOT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE FOR THE FIRST TIME. HOW VALUABLE WAS THAT EXPERIENCE TO REALLY SEE IT FIRST-HAND ON HOW THE ROUNDS WORK; WHAT IT TAKES, THE VALUE OF PLAYOFF POINTS AND SO FORTH TO GET TO PHOENIX?
“Yeah, I think only one other time maybe in my career that I made it to the Round of Eight. I believe anyways.. I might not have, but I think I did one other time. That experience would have probably taught me more and prepared me more for this year’s playoffs. Like last year, I feel like it’s not often that a driver has that many points - I know (Kevin) Harvick has done it in the past - but where you have a lot of points and you can rely on those points and not go into each race with some stress of crashing or having something bad happen. And if it does, you’re still not in terrible shape. I think the second round last year, we had a bad Talladega; we had an alternator issue at the ROVAL and I was stressed out. Where I would have been really stressed out if we had the bad race at Talladega with just that one itself.
I don’t know.. just go out there, execute and try to run upfront all race long. That should hopefully put you in an OK spot.”
YOUR FIRST FULL-TIME CUP SEASON WAS 2014, SO THE ONLY ERA OF CUP RACING YOU’VE EVER KNOWN WAS THE ‘WIN AND YOUR IN’ FORMAT. IT’S NOT TRADITIONAL RACING, IT’S NOT POINTS RACING. DO YOU ENJOY GETTING TO SEPTEMBER AND THE INTENSITY OF THIS FORMAT? AS A RACER, DO YOU ENJOY THAT PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT?
“Like you said, I don’t have experience the other way, so this is all I’ve known and it’s the only way of racing in the playoffs. I don’t know if the regular season was that way back then when I was running. The playoffs being like this is the only way I’ve known, so it just kind of is what it is to me. I think if I had raced another way, how it was before, maybe I would have a different opinion. But I don’t know anything different, so it’s just the way it’s always been.
I think having an emphasis on winning is exciting for the fans. Having the elimination stuff is stressful and that makes things exciting to watch on TV and the storylines developing throughout each race. Hopefully we can win some races and just advance that way. That would make things nice.”
WE HEAR ALL OF THE TIME THAT WINNING IS PARAMOUNT. THERE’S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT IN THE CUP SERIES THAN WINNING. AND YET, WE GET TO THE PLAYOFFS IN SEPTEMBER, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE’RE COUNTING POINTS.. SO IT’S NOT LIKE WINNING IS STILL THE ONLY THING. WHAT IS THE BALANCE WITH YOUR TEAM, IN TERMS OF TRYING TO PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO WIN, BUT ALSO COLLECTING MAXIMUM POINTS IN EACH STAGE?
“Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like in the road courses - and maybe superspeedways a little bit - but mostly the road courses where you have to sacrifice stages for the finishing position. We’ve only got one road course in the playoffs, so aside from that, I think you’re always going to go for the stage points and the race win hopefully comes along with that. Obviously, there are cautions that fall at a certain point at the end of a stage and you have to sacrifice the points for tires and fuel. Then I don’t know.. I think it all kind of depends on where you’re at in the points at that moment.
But yes, I think everybody always wants to just straight-up go for stage points and the race win.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT DARLINGTON RACEWAY THAT SETS UP WELL FOR YOU? DID YOU LIKE THE TRACK FROM THE FIRST TIME YOU DROVE IT OR DID YOU HAVE TO GET SOME LAPS IN BEFORE YOU REALLY FOUND YOUR GROOVE THERE?
“I think most of the races I’ve been in at Darlington (Raceway) have been really good. Maybe if I had some bad results it’s because I got into the wall or something like that. But before getting into the wall, I always remember being competitive, having fun and running up front. I have yet to get a win there, but I feel like it’s in my top three or four for best tracks on the circuit, as far as average running position throughout the race and stuff like that. It just seems to fit my racing style. It’s really technical. You have to move your line around a little bit and be patient.
It’s just fun. I really enjoy it. It gets slick and hot.. it’s just a very demanding race track. I think the more demanding, it sometimes seems to be better suited for me. Hopefully this weekend we can go there, have a really good run and finally crack out a win there.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR REGULAR SEASON WENT? DO YOU FEEL AS PREPARED AS YOU CAN BE FOR THIS PLAYOFF RUN?
“Well I think our regular season didn’t go very well, to our standards, but I don’t really know if it did for anybody. Even for Chase (Elliott), like I don’t even know if his regular season was up to their standards. There was just a lot of inconsistency this year throughout the regular season. We had three blown engines now in the regular season, so DNF’s with that. But also mistakes on my part or bad pit stops. Yes, we got a couple wins, which was nice.. but we also probably gave away a couple, as well.
I would say no, it wasn’t good. But I do still feel like we are prepared for the playoffs. I feel like here lately, our pit crew has been performing well. Our cars have been fast all year long. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and our guys have been making good calls on top of the box. I’m doing a little bit better job of taking what I can get out of the race car and not overstepping things. So I feel like we’re prepared. We just have to hope that everything comes together and this is the time of the year for that.
I know we have a championship caliber team. We proved that last year and we just have to do it again.”
YOU MENTIONED THE INCONSISTENCIES WE’VE SEEN THIS SEASON. IT’S KIND OF BIZARRE FOR YOU TO HAVE SIX DNF’S, AS YOU MENTIONED. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE INCONSISTENCIES, HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE NEW CAR? IT’S REALLY CHANGED THE DYNAMIC IN A LOT OF THESE RACES AND THERE ARE A LOT OF FIRST TIME GUYS THAT ARE GOING TO THE POST-SEASON.
“Yeah, it’s hard to say that it’s not a factor with the unique set of drivers in the playoffs. I don’t know what it is about it.. I think just the cars are more similar than they’ve ever been to one another. There are more things that can go wrong in a race that could take you out of it and put others in contention.
I don’t know.. I think there is a long list of things that can factor into why it is what it is. But I think it’s cool for the race fans to see a different group of drivers up front all year long; a different group than we’re maybe used to seeing in the playoffs. I think it’s added some storylines for the commentators and for you guys, and I think those are all good things.”
COULD THERE BE SOME BIG UNKNOWN THAT NONE OF US ARE EXPECTING THAT POPS UP, SAY IN THE ROUND OF EIGHT EVEN?
“I don’t know.. I don’t know. I think we just have to kind of wait and see how things play out because it is an unknown. I don’t even know what is an unknown because we don’t know what the unknown is.
I don’t know. I can’t answer that for you, I’m not really sure.”
YOU DON’T REALLY FEEL LIKE THERE IS A CLEAR CUT FAVORITE RIGHT NOW GOING INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE?
“I definitely think there are favorites, but there is a lot of craziness that has happened all year long. So even though I have favorites; I’m not confident in anything, just because of how wild and inconsistent the season has been for so many people. I think you can look at us as being one of the favorites. I think you can look at Chase (Elliott), obviously; and in my opinion, Ross Chastain. I would say us three probably, and definitely the Gibbs guys that are in the playoffs. There are a lot of tracks in the playoffs that I think suit their cars and setups very well. Honestly, I would probably look at them as probably being the ones that could go out there and win. I think there are other teams that can do a better job of executing, but the Gibbs guys probably have the fastest and best handling cars to go out there and really win to advance that way.”
WITH YOUR PLAYOFF HISTORY, THERE WAS ONLY ONE OTHER TIME WHERE YOU WERE ABLE TO GET INTO THE ROUND OF EIGHT BEFORE THE RUN YOU WENT ON LAST SEASON. WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE BIGGEST LESSONS ARE THAT YOU’VE LEARNED THROUGHOUT YOUR PLAYOFF HISTORY THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN CARRY INTO THIS YEAR?
“If you win, that’s great.. but if you’re not going to win, you just need to maximize your day and make sure you’re finishing the races. I think finishing is the most important thing. If you can finish in the top-10 or 12 every week until you at least get to the Round of Eight, I feel like that should be enough to get you in.. as long as you’re getting stage points, too. Stage points are really important, as well.
If you get one finish outside the top-20, then I feel like you’ve got reasons to stress. Just not taking yourself out of it has been the biggest thing that I’ve learned over my career of being in the playoffs. I think when you’re young; you think ‘OK, it’s the final 10 weeks and I need to go out there and win’ every week or win at least once a round. That’s not necessarily the case. I think as long as you can just be consistent and finish, let the other guys make those mistakes.”
HOMESTEAD IS ALSO BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR. IS THAT ONE THAT YOU HAVE CIRCLED ON YOUR CALENDAR, AS FAR AS BEING HOPEFUL TO GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE?
“Yeah, I really like Homestead. It suits me well, being able to run the top and search for different lanes of grip. I do feel like though, with the Next Gen car, it seems to be a lot easier to run inches off the wall. So I’m a little bit worried that the whole field will be running up there and it will be really hard to pass, but we’ll see. It’s going to be great no matter what. Homestead is awesome all of the time. I’m just saying, I think compared to other Homestead races; maybe it won’t be as exciting and as good of racing, just because it could be harder to pass. Just have to wait and see until we get there.
But I love Homestead and no matter what package that we’ve ran there, I’ve always seemed to love it and run well. I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to go there and contend for a win.”
IS THERE ANY NERVOUSNESS GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR MECHANICAL FAILURES GIVEN THAT YOU GUYS DID HAVE THREE, UNCHARACTERISTIC ENGINE FAILURES DURING THE REGULAR SEASON?
“I have not really thought about that until we blew up last weekend (at Daytona). Our other two engine failures were early on in the year, so I thought we had it all cured and stuff. Having another issue pop up this weekend - which I think was a totally different issue than I had in the other two – yes, it’s on your mind. But that’s not something you should worry about when you’re on the track. There’s nothing I can do from my position to limit things from happening under the hood.
I’m confident in Hendrick Motorsports and the engine shop. They are the best in the business and they are going to continue to learn why stuff has happened and make it better for the future. My confidence in them has not gone down at all. I’m still confident that we’re going to have great power and great reliability.
But yes, it’s more on my mind now than it was, just because it happened the week before the playoffs start.”
WHAT TRACK OR TRACKS PERSONALLY GIVE YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“Obviously I think Talladega. I think the ROVAL is in that same round. So I think that’s the round, where us being a dominant team last year, it almost took us out. That’s the sketchiest round for me.
As far as a track that I don’t do very well at, I would say Martinsville in that final round is a tricky one for me. But I think it’s also Las Vegas and Homestead, maybe, in that round. Those are two really good tracks for me, so hopefully if I do make it to the Round of Eight, we can have a great Vegas and Homestead and find ourselves in a little bit of a better spot once we get to Martinsville. I think still, to me, that second round is the sketchiest.”
EARLIER, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT SEVERAL GUYS BEING IN THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME. DOES IT WORRY YOU THAT SOME OF THESE GUYS – PARTICULARLY GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN PRONE TO CAUSE ISSUES IN THE REGULAR SEASON – DOES IT CONCERN YOU WITH SOME OF THESE GUYS BEING IN THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT THEY MIGHT KIND OF DRIVER OVER THEIR HEADS A LITTLE BIT?
“No, not really. I don’t think about that at all. You’re going to be racing with them anyways, whether they’re in the playoffs or not, and they’re still going to be hungry for wins no matter what. I don’t think it changes much. Maybe if they’re in a must-win situation to advance to the next round, that’s when you get a little bit more nervous. But your awareness is going to be high for anybody in a must-win situation.
Honestly, to me, it doesn’t change my mindset at all. I’d be curious what other drivers would have to say. I don’t think it would change their opinions either. I don’t really think too much into it.”
GM PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72448-chevrolet-ncs-at-darlington-kyle-larson-teleconference-transcript | 2022-08-30T18:46:35Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72448-chevrolet-ncs-at-darlington-kyle-larson-teleconference-transcript | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
On its own, the 1.366 mile egg-shaped oval at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway is a daunting challenge for NASCAR Cup Series competitors. But add in the fact that Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 is the first of the 10-race Cup Series playoffs and it’s a recipe for a long, grueling night this Labor Day weekend. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), certainly feels up to the task. The two-time Cup Series champion enters the postseason seeded 11th and carrying 10 playoff points to start this year’s run for the title. As Busch and the M&M’S team head back to Darlington, they return to a place where they’ve won before and Busch has enjoyed recent success. In fact, Busch has brought home top-five finishes four times in the last eight Darlington races, and had another strong run going on the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval in May before being collected by another car with a blown tire that ended his race early. The Las Vegas native conquered “The Track Too Tough To Tame” in May 2008, which earned him the distinction of being the youngest Cup Series winner – at 23 years of age – in the track’s storied history. Busch also has two Xfinity Series wins at Darlington, coming in May 2011 and 2013. Since joining JGR in 2008, Busch has brought home six top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 18 Darlington starts for JGR, but he’s still looking to back up his lone Cup Series victory there. So as the Cup Series heads to Darlington for Sunday night's Southern 500, Busch knows he’ll need to not only race his fellow competitors, but also the “Lady in Black,” as the aptly named racetrack will be a challenge of its own. Add the fact that it’s the kickoff to the 2022 playoffs and the racing is sure to be exciting and entertaining as the 16 title contenders start a typically compelling final 10 weeks of the season with a champion to be crowned the first weekend in November. KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M'S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing: What are you expectations going back to Darlington for the second time this year? “We’ve had good speed with our Toyota group on the mile-and-a-half and 2-mile tracks. We’ve been good at those places. Under a mile, we’ve struggled a bit, and road courses we’ve struggled a bit, as well. Would like to think we have a good shot at Darlington this weekend. We were running in the top-four the last time there and a car in front of us blew a tire and crashed and we got caught up in that. So don’t need any of that this time around. I would like to think we can go to Darlington and run in the top-five for sure and maybe even improve our program from the last time we were there and go out there and get a win with our M&M’S Camry.” What is the most challenging part about Darlington, especially with it opening the playoffs the last few years? “Darlington is a tough track. They call it the ‘Lady in Black’ for a reason. It seems like whether the pavement is worn out like it is now, it seems slick, or if it’s a brand new racetrack, the pavement still seems slick. That really kind of lends itself to some tough racing there. Being on the inside of guys and having a track that is only two lanes wide with the cars going around there at 170 or 180 mph, it makes it difficult for us. You try to pick and choose those battles as you go on throughout the race and try to pass those guys in the right spot so you don’t get in a bad spot where you break your momentum going forward into the next turn.” Do you notice the racing getting different once you get into the playoffs with so much more at stake? “Definitely. I feel like things do amp up and (drivers) race each other a lot harder and there’s a lot more on the line. You have to pick and choose your battles, but when you get into these playoff races, and even more so in the cutoff races, every position is a point and every point counts as you try to navigate and get through each round. So you just have to know who you are racing and what they have at stake and be smart. But you never know what it’s going to come down to that will get you to the next round or eventually to the final four, which is where all of us want to be to have a shot at a championship at the end of the year.” At Darlington, do you wait to get toward the front as it gets later in the race when the sun is starts going down? How does the track change as it goes from afternoon to early evening there? “You start the race off there and you just don’t want to hit the wall. We know how easy it is to get into the wall and get a Darlington ‘stripe.’ You don’t want to hit the wall and take yourself out of a chance to win the race. The early stages of the race, you are biding your time and racing the racetrack and you are trying not to put yourself in a bad spot, and you aren’t worrying about competition, and you aren’t trying to take too many chances. As it gets deeper into the race and closer to the checkered flag, you are definitely going to be going for it and, if you can find even a half-inch of grip by getting a half-inch closer to the wall because that’s where the speed is at, you’ve just got to do it.” TSC PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72453-kyle-busch-primed-for-the-playoffs | 2022-08-30T18:46:41Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72453-kyle-busch-primed-for-the-playoffs | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes
- HAMLIN AT DARLINGTON: Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with four NASCAR Cup Series victories at Darlington Raceway. His 7.8-average finishing position is also best amongst active drivers. Three of Hamlin’s four Cup Series victories have come in the Southern 500, including his win last September. Earlier this season, he started from the rear of the field and quickly worked his way up to the top five before being collected in a multi-car accident late in the race.
- DEFENDING WINNER: Hamlin kickstarted last season’s playoffs with a win at Darlington Raceway. After starting second, he won stage one and finished fourth in stage two. For the race, he led 146 laps, including the final 69 laps, and fended off a last-lap challenge from Kyle Larson to secure the victory.
- DAYTONA RECAP: The No. 11 team appeared poised to compete for the win in last Sunday’s race at Daytona International Speedway before Hamlin was involved in a multi-car accident when a rain shower wiped out most of the lead pack. Before the misfortune, Hamlin spent most of the race battling inside the top five and he had finally made his way to the front just before the accident happened.
- REGULAR SEASON RUNDOWN: Hamlin enters the 2022 playoffs sixth in the standings. He owns 13 playoff points courtesy of his victories at Richmond Raceway in April and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, in addition to three stage wins. Through 26 races, the No. 11 driver has posted five top-five finishes, seven top-10s, three pole awards, and 384 laps led.
- PLAYOFF HISTORY: This marks Hamlin’s 16th career playoff appearance. While he is still searching for his first Cup Series championship, he has finished inside the top five in the final standings on seven occasions. Since the playoffs changed formats to feature the current Championship 4 finale, Hamlin has qualified for the title race four times (2014, 2019, 2020, 2021). His best overall finish in the standings was second in 2010.
- SPORT CLIPS: Sport Clips will be featured as the primary sponsor for Hamlin on Saturday and Sunday as he competes in both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Darlington Raceway. The sports-themed haircutting franchise based in Georgetown, Texas is a longtime supporter of Joe Gibbs Racing dating back to 2009 and has more than 1,850 stores in the United States and Canada.
- JGR AT DARLINGTON: Joe Gibbs Racing owns 10 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Darlington Raceway. In 112 combined starts at the historic egg-shaped oval, the organization has tallied 34 top-five finishes, 67 top-10s, two pole awards, and 2,379 laps led. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, and Martin Truex Jr. join Hamlin on the list of drivers who have taken JGR to victory lane at Darlington.
- TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway begins Sunday, September 4, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Denny Hamlin, Driver of the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry TRD
What is your outlook heading into the playoff opener this weekend in Darlington?
“I feel really good about where our team is at. We have as much potential as anybody in the field if we can just put it all together. Darlington is obviously a great place to get that started with our history there. It would be nice to go in there Saturday, qualifying up front and be able to maintain that throughout the night Sunday. That’s easier said than done, but Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and everyone on our 11 team is doing everything they can right now, so I’m excited to see it play out.”
JGR PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72458-denny-hamlin-no-11-sport-clips-toyota-camry-trd-preview-cook-out-southern-500-at-darlington-raceway | 2022-08-30T18:46:53Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72458-denny-hamlin-no-11-sport-clips-toyota-camry-trd-preview-cook-out-southern-500-at-darlington-raceway | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
An Arlington native whose parents emigrated from Honduras in the 1960s has been tapped to serve as new chief deputy of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office.
The announcement of the promotion of Capt. Jose Quiroz was made by Sheriff Beth Arthur.
“As sheriff, I have worked closely with Chief Quiroz throughout his various roles within the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office. I have seen firsthand his commitment to being actively engaged with community members, staff and those remanded to our custody,” Arthur said in a statement.
Growing up in Arlington, Quiroz attended Abingdon Elementary School, Kenmore and Swanson middle schools and Bishop O’Connell High School. He was hired as a deputy sheriff in 2001 following service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve the Sheriff’s Office, community, staff and those remanded to our custody. Serving our community is very important to me and I will continue to stay engaged, committed and work hard for the Sheriff’s Office,” Quiroz said.
Earlier this year, Quiroz was promoted to the rank of captain and assigned to oversee all Sheriff’s Office contracts to include the medical and food-services contracts.
Quiroz is a resident of Arlington with his wife, their two children and two dogs.
The primary responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office is operation of the Arlington County Detention Facility, providing court security, serving court orders/summonses and transporting inmates to court appearances, state facilities and medical or other appointments.
The sheriff’s position is one of five elected constitutional offices in Arlington. Arthur has served as sheriff since 2000, overseeing an organization that has a sworn and civilian staff of more than 270. The position is next up for election in November 2023.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-sheriff-names-chief-deputy-with-local-roots/article_d3504c08-2884-11ed-a3dc-cf679f254991.html | 2022-08-30T18:48:02Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-sheriff-names-chief-deputy-with-local-roots/article_d3504c08-2884-11ed-a3dc-cf679f254991.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Secondary-school students in Arlington now will be able to ride for free throughout the Arlington Transit (ART) bus network.
But there is a hiccup in the plan. (More on that below.)
Previously, students had been able to take rides to and from school without charge on the bus network. The expanded effort, which began at the start of the school year on Aug. 29, provides free rides throughout the system.
(Previously, students paid $1 per trip, or half the regular fare, for rides outside their home-to-work-to-school circuit.)
The ART system operates 16 routes within Arlington. It is funded by the county government and operated by a private contractor.
To be eligible for free rides, students most use an iRide SmarTrip card. For those who do not as yet have them, however, the aforementioned hiccup may come into play.
Due to supply-chain issues, supplies of new iRide cards currently are limited and are being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, Arlington government officials said.
Once the existing supply is exhausted, it is likely new cards will arrive and be available for distribution in October, county officials said.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-students-to-get-free-bus-rides-throughout-art-system/article_51c67914-2884-11ed-909c-531df38c6fc3.html | 2022-08-30T18:48:08Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-students-to-get-free-bus-rides-throughout-art-system/article_51c67914-2884-11ed-909c-531df38c6fc3.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Here’s another sign that the local real-estate market is on a downward slope, albeit still a relatively gradual one.
The median sales price for homes that sold in Northern Virginia in July stood at $580,000, according to figures reported by the Virginia Realtors trade group.
While higher by nearly 5 percent than the $553,000 recorded in July 2021, the $580,000 figure trails the median sales price of $583,000 for the first seven months of 2022.
Put another way: While the year-to-date median sales price through July was up $13,100 (from $539,900 during the first seven months of 2021), July 2022’s sales price was down $3,000 from the same point a year before.
A sign of the apocalypse? No. But decidedly a sign of cooling. Especially as the summer months tend to be among the strongest, price-wise, in the local real-estate market.
Virginia Realtors defines “Northern Virginia” more broadly than most Northern Virginians do – it encompasses an area south roughly to Fredericksburg and west to the West Virginia line.
In July, there were 3,741 home sales reported in that zone, down 32.1 percent from 5,507 a year before, according to the trade group.
Northern Virginia’s decline was the largest dropoff among the eight areas of the Old Dominion. Elsewhere, declines ranged from 9.9 percent in Southside Virginia to 28.2 percent in Eastern Virginia. Statewide, the dropoff was 26 percent to 15,328 sales.
For the first seven months of 2022, Eastern Virginia had the biggest year-over-year decline, totaling 19.2 percent, followed by Northern Virginia at 18.1 percent. Statewide, the sales dropoff for the first seven months was 13 percent to 78,189.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/data-so-far-suggest-soft-landing-not-crash-for-regional-real-estate-market/article_0592503a-2885-11ed-bf96-37493be260a5.html | 2022-08-30T18:48:14Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/data-so-far-suggest-soft-landing-not-crash-for-regional-real-estate-market/article_0592503a-2885-11ed-bf96-37493be260a5.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A dedication ceremony to mark an historic marker honoring the McLean Volunteer Department was held Aug. 21 at the Old Firehouse Center, 1440 Chain Bridge Road.
The event was sponsored by the McLean Historical Society, Fairfax County History Commission, McLean Volunteer Fire Department and McLean Community Center. The marker has been in place for some time, but the dedication was delayed due to pandemic conditions.
Today used for youth programs of the McLean Community Center, what is now known as the Old Firehouse began life in 1925 to house the volunteer department, which in 1923 became the first to be incorporated in Fairfax County.
“Back then, it served as the community center of its day, and we want to preserve its rich history,” said local civic leader and historian Carole Herrick.
Herrick was joined by Fairfax County History Commission chair Cheryl Repetti in speaking at the event. Boy Scout Troop 128 opened the ceremonies, and members of the volunteer fire department were on hand to discuss various displays.
A reception followed the ceremony.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/historical-marker-takes-pride-of-place-in-mclean/article_89ad4146-2884-11ed-9f29-5397162fa049.html | 2022-08-30T18:48:20Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/historical-marker-takes-pride-of-place-in-mclean/article_89ad4146-2884-11ed-9f29-5397162fa049.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Ebonyi govt, councillors disagree over court ruling on tenure elongation
Ebonyi State Government and serving councillors in the 171 wards in the 13 local government areas of the state have disagreed over the recent court ruling which annulled the recently held council elections in the state.
This is as the state government vowed to go ahead with the swearing-in of new councillors and chairmen for the councils and wards.
The state House of Assembly had reduced the tenure of council chairmen from three years to two years, paving the way for fresh elections in the councils.
But some members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had gone to court before the election seeking to stop it.
The plaintiffs, Otu Collins and four others in suit number FHC/AIICS/151/2022 argued that the tenure of the present chairmen and councillors has not expired.
Despite the pendency of the suit, the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) went ahead to conduct the election. The elections would later hold on July 30, 2022, with the All Progressive Congress(APC) in the State winning all the positions.
The state government went ahead to plan the inauguration of the new chairmen and councillors for September 1st.
But the Federal High Court in Abakaliki on Thursday, August 25 quashed the elections when it held that the tenure of the present chairmen and councillors will expire next year.
Justice Fatun Riman in his ruling on the matter declared that “the tenure of office of Chairmen and Councilors in Local Governments of Ebonyi State is three years and that the tenure of the present crop of Chairmen and Councilors in Ebonyi State will expire in August 2023.”
He further restrained the state government from appointing caretaker Chairmen or Caretaker Committees to run the affairs of the councils.
“That the 3rd defendant (Ebonyi State government) lacks the vires, authority, enablement etc to appoint Caretakers, Caretaker Committees and/or anybody of persons by whatsoever name or nomenclature called that are unelected democratically to run, manage, superintend etc the
affairs of the 13 Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State,” he added.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the APC in the state, Stanley Emegha, publicly insisted that the 13 LGA chairmen and 171 ward councillors elected must be inaugurated on September 1, 2022, as earlier scheduled.
Mr Emegha while announcing the date for the inaugural ceremony, argued that the inauguration of the newly elected LG Chairmen and Councillors should be held following their successful election on July 30, 2022.
He said: “In view, of the successful conduct of Council polls in Ebonyi State on the 30th of July 2022, the National and Zonal Leadership of the All Progressives Congress Stakeholders), other Stakeholders, as well as the General public, are cordially invited to witness the epoch-making event which will signify a new era that will consolidate the giant developmental strides of our Governor, Engr Chief David Nweze Umahi.
“It is also gratifying to use this opportunity again to congratulate the newly elected Chairmen of the 13 local government Areas and 171 wards’ councillors as well as our great party, APC for sweeping the polls overwhelmingly,” he said.
He announced that the inauguration would be held by 10 am, at the Pa Ngele Oruta township stadium, Abakakili, Ebonyi State.
In a related development, Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji, while speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, argued that the ruling did not annul the council election.
He also maintained that the court did not also order a stop to the swearing-in ceremony of the new council chairmen and councillors. | https://tribuneonlineng.com/ebonyi-govt-councillors-disagree-over-court-ruling-on-tenure-elongation/ | 2022-08-30T18:48:22Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/ebonyi-govt-councillors-disagree-over-court-ruling-on-tenure-elongation/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Floods have killed 115 Nigerians in eight months ― Presidency
Not less than 115 persons have lost their lives and 73,379 displaced in the floods affecting several parts of the country, the Presidency has said.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), 277 people were injured in the destructive floods, which also destroyed or severely damage 37, 633 houses.
According to the statement, over 500,000 persons in all have been affected in the country since January this year.
The statement informed that President Buhari is receiving regular updates on the flood situation in the country.
Extending heartfelt condolences to all the families affected by the recent flooding in different states across the country, the President pledged that the federal government will continue to provide the needed emergency assistance to individuals and communities impacted by the disaster.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
He also invited other public-spirited individuals and organisations to support hundreds of thousands of people in need of urgent help in the affected communities.
The President reiterated that these tragic events have brought to fore the need for states and local governments to step up their level of preparedness in handling emergencies, which remains a shared responsibility with the government at the centre.
President Buhari affirmed that the Federal Government will continue to monitor the situation very closely to work more with states and affected communities to reduce the impact of the disaster, provide resources and improve response and recovery efforts.
The President urged inhabitants of flood-prone areas to always adhere to the early warning advisories as issued by the organisations saddled with climate monitoring and disaster management.
The statement said that since January this year flooding has been reported in Lagos, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia States and the Federal Capital Territory, affecting 508,721 people.
It added: “The destructive floods have displaced 73,379 people, 115 casualties, and injured 277 people.
“The floods and heavy rain have left around 37, 633 houses destroyed or severely damaged, according to latest data made available to the Presidency from the relevant Federal Government Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA).”
EDITORIAL: NPF-PSC’s Endless Clashes
Floods have killed 115 Nigerians in eight months ― Presidency
This Is Our Last Chance —Tinubu
Floods have killed 115 Nigerians in eight months ― Presidency | https://tribuneonlineng.com/floods-have-killed-115-nigerians-in-eight-months-%E2%80%95-presidency/ | 2022-08-30T18:48:42Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/floods-have-killed-115-nigerians-in-eight-months-%E2%80%95-presidency/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A staff of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Josephine Ajoke Akinfotire and her son, Destiny Olusegun, have been dragged before a Magistrate Court in Akure, for allegedly assaulting their neighbour, Mrs Fifunmi Giwa.
The defendants were said to have committed the offences on July 19 between 6.00 p.m and 7.00pm at Ota-Esan community, Oba-Ile, in Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
The defendants were facing a two-count charge of assault and malicious damage, while the defendants were alleged to have damaged a sewing machine head belonging to the assaulted neighbour.
The plaintiff counsel, Mr Benjamin Salami, in a suit number MAK/NC/138/2022 filed on behalf of the plaintiff, Mrs Fifunmi Giwa, alleged that the defendants committed the offences on July 19 between 6.00 p.m and 7.00 p.m. at Ota-Esan community, Oba-Ile, Akure.
Salami alleged that Akinfotire, a civil servant and her son, Destiny, assaulted the plaintiff in her apartment during an argument, damaging a sewing machine head repairable at the cost of N10,000, a sewing machine leg valued at N40,000 and one Itel phone worth N7,000.
Also damaged are one dummy head valued at N6,000, one Sayona pressing iron worth N12,000 and door handle repairable valued at N8,000, totaling N73,000 belonging to the plaintiff.
Salami in the suit asked for the sum of N300,000 from the defendants “as general damages for assaulting the plaintiff and injuring her, and N70, 000 for the cost of this action.”
The defendants, however, pleaded not liable to the charge.
The defendants counsel, Mr Jimoh Saliu, asked for a date to enable him prepare his witnesses for the case.
The Magistrate, Mr Mayomi Olanipekun, however, adjourned the case until September 26 for hearing. | https://tribuneonlineng.com/owo-poly-staff-son-in-court-for-allegedly-assaulting-neighbour/ | 2022-08-30T18:49:02Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/owo-poly-staff-son-in-court-for-allegedly-assaulting-neighbour/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers voted Monday for a parliamentary investigation into the tapping by the country’s secret service of an opposition party leader’s phone.
The scandal has plunged Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right government into a political storm. Mitsotakis has denied any prior knowledge of the surveillance, which he said was wrong, and pledged to overhaul the EYP secret service.
On Monday, 142 lawmakers voted for the parliamentary investigation, easily exceeding the 120-vote threshold needed. All 157 government lawmakers attending the ballot voted present. One lawmaker in the 300-seat house was absent.
The commission — where government lawmakers will have a majority — will have at least a month to carry out the probe.
The committee will also examine allegations that phones belonging to officials in Greece’s communist party were tapped in 2016, under a previous left-wing government.
The current scandal broke after revelations that Nikos Androulakis, a European Parliament member and head of Greece’s third-largest political party, was put under surveillance for three months last year when he was running for his PASOK party’s leadership. A financial journalist also was under surveillance.
Mitsotakis, who faces reelection next year, has insisted he was unaware of what he has called the legal wiretapping of Androulakis but said he would not have approved the move had he known about it. He has not revealed the reasons for Androulakis being under surveillance, citing national security concerns.
The head of EYP and a close aide to Mitsotakis have resigned over the scandal. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/international/ap-greek-parliament-votes-to-investigate-wiretapping-scandal/ | 2022-08-30T18:49:03Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/international/ap-greek-parliament-votes-to-investigate-wiretapping-scandal/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The 2023 Nissan Rogue compact crossover carries over mostly unchanged into the new model year, except for a small price increase of $240 over the 2022 Rogue. The base S costs $28,655, including a $1,295 destination fee.
The only significant change to Nissan’s bestseller comes with a new Midnight Edition on the SV grade that adds 18-inch black alloy wheels, black exterior accents, a glossy grille insert, and black synthetic leather on the inside. It costs an extra $1,535. Top grades get Amazon Alexa.
On Monday, Nissan announced it would discontinue the smaller Rogue Sport at the end of the year, with Nissan shoppers splitting their interest between the Nissan Kicks small crossover and the proper Nissan Rogue.
For 2023, every Rogue uses a variable-compression 1.5-liter turbo-3 that makes 201 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque. It’s more potent and more efficient than the 2.5-liter inline-4 that powered the redesigned 2021 Rogue. It pairs with a CVT driving the front wheels; all-wheel drive is available across the lineup for $1,500.
Standard features include 17-inch wheels, LED headlights and taillights, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Every Rogue comes with driver-assist features such as automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, automatic high beams, and blind-spot monitors.
Stepping up to the Rogue SV unlocks more options, better features, and a stronger value, with only a $210 increase from last year. The SV costs $30,345 and adds a power driver seat, wi-fi, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, and remote start. Shoppers can upgrade to a Premium Package or the Midnight Edition.
The 2023 Rogue SL costs $35,005 and adds synthetic leather upholstery, power front seats, and a panoramic sunroof. The Platinum tops the lineup at $38,335 and adds navigation that can adjust the speed of the adaptive cruise control system to match the highway, wireless Apple CarPlay, a Bose sound system, a 9.0-inch touchscreen, and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
The 2023 Rogue goes on sale this fall.
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- 2023 Kia Sportage crossover SUV qualifies for Top Safety Pick status | https://www.wspa.com/automotive/internet-brands/2023-nissan-rogue-gets-modest-price-increase-to-28655/ | 2022-08-30T18:49:11Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/automotive/internet-brands/2023-nissan-rogue-gets-modest-price-increase-to-28655/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A vegan woman convicted of murder in the malnutrition death of her young son was sentenced Monday to life in prison.
Sheila O’Leary, 38, whose family followed a strict vegan diet, was convicted in June on six charges — first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse and two counts of child neglect — in the death of Ezra O’Leary. Her sentencing in Lee County, Florida, had previously been postponed four times.
Her husband, Ryan Patrick O’Leary, remains in jail while awaiting trial on the same charges. Investigators said the couple told them the family ate only raw fruits and vegetables, although the toddler also was fed breast milk. The 18-month-old boy weighed 17 pounds (8 kilograms) and was the size of a 7-month-old baby when he died in September 2019, a police report said.
The Cape Coral couple had two other children, ages 3 and 5, who also were malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child had been returned to her biological father during an earlier malnutrition case in Virginia, court records show. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/ap-vegan-mom-gets-life-in-prison-for-starvation-death-of-son/ | 2022-08-30T18:49:37Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/ap-vegan-mom-gets-life-in-prison-for-starvation-death-of-son/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the plea filed by Kozhikode principal sessions and district judge seeking to quash the order issued by it transferring him as presiding officer of a Labour Court in Kollam.
District Judge S Krishnakumar, who filed the plea, was transferred days after he passed a 'provocative dress' remark while granting bail to the accused in a sexual assault case.
Moving the High Court, the judge had claimed that his transfer order issued by the Registrar of the High Court was against the transfer norms.
The judge contended that as per transfer norms, he was entitled to continue as Kozhikode Principal District and Sessions Judge, till his retirement on May 31, 2023.
But Justice Anu Sivaraman observed that the transfer was not a deputation as it was well within the cadre of the Principle District Judge.
Krishnakumar said he can be transferred as per the norms before completing three years of service only if it is necessary, in the interest of administration, or under special circumstances.
"Wrong order passed while discharging judicial duty cannot be a grounds for transfer," the judge said in the plea.
Krishnakumar said transferring him was illegal as it was a deputation post and his consent, which was required for transferring him to that post, was not obtained before taking that decision.
The judge said he has been having an unblemished service of 27 years and at the fag end of his career transferring him would tell upon his dedication while discharging duty as a judicial officer.
While granting bail to writer Civic Chandran, Judge Krishkumar observed that the complainant was wearing a 'sexually provocative dress at the time of the incident.'
"This was clear from the photos submitted by Civic Chandran. Hence the offence under Section 354 A of the IPC is not prima facie attracted,” he had said in his judgment.
He was transferred on August 23. The High Court has also cancelled the bail granted to Chandran. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/30/hc-reserves-order-on-plea-of-controversial-verdict-judge.html | 2022-08-30T18:49:50Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/30/hc-reserves-order-on-plea-of-controversial-verdict-judge.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK (AP) — At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she won’t bear children, though she and her girlfriend haven’t ruled out adoption.
The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the climate crisis and a genetic health condition among them.
“I don’t think it’s responsible to bring children into this world,” Johnson said. “There are already kids who need homes. I don’t know what kind of world it’s going to be in 20, 30, 40 years.”
She’s so sure, in fact, that she’ll soon have her tubes removed. It’s a precautionary decision sealed by the fall of Roe v. Wade and by tight restrictions on abortion services in her state and around the country.
Other women interviewed also cited climate change, along with overwhelming student debt coupled with inflation, as reasons they’ll never be parents. Some younger men, too, are opting out and more are seeking vasectomies.
Whatever the motivation, they play a role in dramatically low birth rates in the U.S.
The U.S. birth rate fell 4% in 2020, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report. The government noted a 1% uptick in U.S. births last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic: about 86,000 fewer than in 2019.
Walter and Kyah King live in suburban Las Vegas. Walter, 29, a sports data scientist, and Kyah, 28, a college career counselor, have been together nearly 10 years, the last four as a married couple. The realization that they didn’t want to have kids came on slowly for both of them.
“It was in our early 20s when the switch sort of flipped,” Kyah said. “We had moved to California and we were really just starting our adult lives. I think we talked about having three kids at one point. But just with the economy and the state of the world and just thinking about the logistics of bringing children into the world. That’s really when we started to have our doubts.”
Finances are top of mind. Before taxes, the two earn about $160,000 combined, with about $120,000 in student loan debt for Kyah and about $5,000 left for Walter. The couple said they wouldn’t be able to buy a house and shoulder the costs of even one child without major sacrifices they’re not willing to make.
But for Kyah, the decision goes well beyond money.
“I think we would be great parents, but the thought of going into our health system to give birth is really scary. Black women, black mothers, are not valued in the same way that white mothers are,” said Kyah, who is Black.
When Kyah’s IUD expires, Walter said he’ll consider a vasectomy, a procedure that went on the rise among men under 30 during the pandemic.
Jordan Davidson interviewed more than 300 people for a book out in December titled, “So When are You Having Kids?” The pandemic, she said, led many to delay childbirth among those contemplating children at all.
“These timelines that people created for themselves of, I want to accomplish X by three years from now, changed. People weren’t necessarily willing to move the goalposts and say, OK, I’m going to forgo these accomplishments and do this differently,” she said. “People still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They still want to meet certain financial benchmarks.”
Fears about climate change have cemented the idea of living without children for many, Davidson said.
“Now with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves, all of a sudden it is becoming real that, OK, this is happening during my time, and what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?” she said.
In New York City, 23-year-old Emily Shapiro, a copywriter for a pharmaceutical ad agency, earns $60,000 a year, lives at home as she saves money and has never wanted children.
“They’re sticky. I could never imagine picking up a kid that’s covered in ice cream. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I don’t want to change a diaper. If I did have one, I wouldn’t want them until they’re in, like, sixth grade. I also think the physical Earth isn’t doing so great so it would be unfair,” she said.
Among those Jordan interviewed, concerns over the environment were far more prevalent among the younger group. Questions of affordability, she said, troubled both millennials and members of Gen Z.
“There is a lot of fear around having children who would be worse off than they viewed themselves during their childhoods,” Davidson said.
Dannie Lynn Murphy, who helps find software engineers for Google, said she was nearly 17 when she was removed from her home by child protective services due to a pattern of child abuse. Her wife, she said, was similarly raised in a “not great” environment.
“Both of us at one point would have said yes to kids,” she said. “In my late teenage, early adult years, I saw and understood the appeal and was attracted to the idea of getting to raise someone differently than I was raised. But the practical realities of a child kind of suck.”
Murphy earns about $103,000 a year, with bonuses and equity that can drive that amount up to $300,000. Her wife earns about $60,000 as an attorney. They don’t own their Seattle home.
“I can’t see myself committing to a mortgage, let alone a child,” the 28-year-old Murphy said. “I think the primary reason is financial. I would prefer to spend that money on traveling versus sinking a half a million dollars into raising a child. Secondarily, there’s now the fear of behaving with our children the way our parents behaved with us.”
Alyssa Persson, 31, was raised in small town South Dakota. Getting married and having children was ingrained in the culture, she said. It wasn’t until after her divorce from her high school sweetheart that she took a step back and asked herself what she actually wanted out of life.
“Most women where I’m from lose their identities in motherhood,” said Persson, who now lives in St. Louis and earns about $47,000 a year as a university librarian.
She’s carrying student loan debt of about $80,000. Persson is a former teacher who loves children, but she feels she is now thinking more clearly than ever about the costs, implications and sacrifices of parenting.
“Having children sounds like a trap to me, to be frank,” she said. “Financially, socially, emotionally, physically. And if there were ever any shadow of a doubt, the fact that I cannot comfortably support myself on my salary is enough to scare me away from the idea entirely.”
___
Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
—-
For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/lifestyle | https://www.wspa.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 2022-08-30T18:50:21Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 51 |
NEW YORK (AP) — At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she won’t bear children, though she and her girlfriend haven’t ruled out adoption.
The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the climate crisis and a genetic health condition among them.
“I don’t think it’s responsible to bring children into this world,” Johnson said. “There are already kids who need homes. I don’t know what kind of world it’s going to be in 20, 30, 40 years.”
She’s so sure, in fact, that she’ll soon have her tubes removed. It’s a precautionary decision sealed by the fall of Roe v. Wade and by tight restrictions on abortion services in her state and around the country.
Other women interviewed also cited climate change, along with overwhelming student debt coupled with inflation, as reasons they’ll never be parents. Some younger men, too, are opting out and more are seeking vasectomies.
Whatever the motivation, they play a role in dramatically low birth rates in the U.S.
The U.S. birth rate fell 4% in 2020, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report. The government noted a 1% uptick in U.S. births last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic: about 86,000 fewer than in 2019.
Walter and Kyah King live in suburban Las Vegas. Walter, 29, a sports data scientist, and Kyah, 28, a college career counselor, have been together nearly 10 years, the last four as a married couple. The realization that they didn’t want to have kids came on slowly for both of them.
“It was in our early 20s when the switch sort of flipped,” Kyah said. “We had moved to California and we were really just starting our adult lives. I think we talked about having three kids at one point. But just with the economy and the state of the world and just thinking about the logistics of bringing children into the world. That’s really when we started to have our doubts.”
Finances are top of mind. Before taxes, the two earn about $160,000 combined, with about $120,000 in student loan debt for Kyah and about $5,000 left for Walter. The couple said they wouldn’t be able to buy a house and shoulder the costs of even one child without major sacrifices they’re not willing to make.
But for Kyah, the decision goes well beyond money.
“I think we would be great parents, but the thought of going into our health system to give birth is really scary. Black women, black mothers, are not valued in the same way that white mothers are,” said Kyah, who is Black.
When Kyah’s IUD expires, Walter said he’ll consider a vasectomy, a procedure that went on the rise among men under 30 during the pandemic.
Jordan Davidson interviewed more than 300 people for a book out in December titled, “So When are You Having Kids?” The pandemic, she said, led many to delay childbirth among those contemplating children at all.
“These timelines that people created for themselves of, I want to accomplish X by three years from now, changed. People weren’t necessarily willing to move the goalposts and say, OK, I’m going to forgo these accomplishments and do this differently,” she said. “People still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They still want to meet certain financial benchmarks.”
Fears about climate change have cemented the idea of living without children for many, Davidson said.
“Now with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves, all of a sudden it is becoming real that, OK, this is happening during my time, and what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?” she said.
In New York City, 23-year-old Emily Shapiro, a copywriter for a pharmaceutical ad agency, earns $60,000 a year, lives at home as she saves money and has never wanted children.
“They’re sticky. I could never imagine picking up a kid that’s covered in ice cream. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I don’t want to change a diaper. If I did have one, I wouldn’t want them until they’re in, like, sixth grade. I also think the physical Earth isn’t doing so great so it would be unfair,” she said.
Among those Jordan interviewed, concerns over the environment were far more prevalent among the younger group. Questions of affordability, she said, troubled both millennials and members of Gen Z.
“There is a lot of fear around having children who would be worse off than they viewed themselves during their childhoods,” Davidson said.
Dannie Lynn Murphy, who helps find software engineers for Google, said she was nearly 17 when she was removed from her home by child protective services due to a pattern of child abuse. Her wife, she said, was similarly raised in a “not great” environment.
“Both of us at one point would have said yes to kids,” she said. “In my late teenage, early adult years, I saw and understood the appeal and was attracted to the idea of getting to raise someone differently than I was raised. But the practical realities of a child kind of suck.”
Murphy earns about $103,000 a year, with bonuses and equity that can drive that amount up to $300,000. Her wife earns about $60,000 as an attorney. They don’t own their Seattle home.
“I can’t see myself committing to a mortgage, let alone a child,” the 28-year-old Murphy said. “I think the primary reason is financial. I would prefer to spend that money on traveling versus sinking a half a million dollars into raising a child. Secondarily, there’s now the fear of behaving with our children the way our parents behaved with us.”
Alyssa Persson, 31, was raised in small town South Dakota. Getting married and having children was ingrained in the culture, she said. It wasn’t until after her divorce from her high school sweetheart that she took a step back and asked herself what she actually wanted out of life.
“Most women where I’m from lose their identities in motherhood,” said Persson, who now lives in St. Louis and earns about $47,000 a year as a university librarian.
She’s carrying student loan debt of about $80,000. Persson is a former teacher who loves children, but she feels she is now thinking more clearly than ever about the costs, implications and sacrifices of parenting.
“Having children sounds like a trap to me, to be frank,” she said. “Financially, socially, emotionally, physically. And if there were ever any shadow of a doubt, the fact that I cannot comfortably support myself on my salary is enough to scare me away from the idea entirely.”
___
Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
—-
For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/lifestyle | https://www.wspa.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 2022-08-30T18:50:21Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 51 |
Notes of Interest ● History at Darlington: In 14 starts at the 1.33-mile egg-shaped oval, Almirola has earned two top-10 finishes, which came in back-to-back starts in 2020. Almirola finished 11th at Darlington earlier this year after running in and around the top-10 for the majority of the race. ● Driver Points: Almirola arrives at Darlington 19th in the driver standings with 576 points. ● Almirola’s career: In 414 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has earned three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 91 top-10s, three poles, and has led 899 laps. ● Renegade Insurance, a revolutionary property and casualty (P&C) agency platform that turns agents into super-agents, makes its debut on the No. 10 Ford this weekend at Darlington. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and best-in-class expertise across the insurance value chain, Renegade empowers top agents to break free from the old ways of insurance and launch their own independent agency without the headaches. With a Renegade agent, customers have more choice, better service and expert advice when and where they need it. Renegade is now in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina, and is currently accepting applications from top P&C agents. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.RenegadeInsurance.com, and its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn social channels. ● Back for More: Earlier this year, Almirola announced that he would step down from fulltime racing following the 2022 season. In the course of the year, Almirola has discovered a new balance between his passion for racing and dedication to his family. His wife Janice, and kids Alex and Abby, join him on most race weekends, oftentimes enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experiences together as they travel the country. His rapport with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer has flourished, and the intense pressure he had put on himself was replaced with the joy of simply being present. Not only did Almirola see a new perspective on the sport, but so did anchor partner Smithfield Foods, who broached the subject of Almirola returning to fulltime racing in 2023. On Friday, Aug. 26, Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Smithfield Foods announced their return with a multi-year agreement and the largest allotment of races since joining the team in 2018. View the full press release here. ● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2022, Almirola is once again sharing his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season four of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook. ● Almirola was the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to finish in the top-10 in this year’s opening three races. He finished fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, sixth at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Almirola’s top-10 streak ended with a 12th-place finish at Phoenix despite running inside the top-10 throughout the race. Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Renegade Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: Do you enjoy racing at Darlington? “I always enjoy going to Darlington. It is a really tough racetrack – they call it ‘Too Tough Too Tame’ and that’s the slogan for a reason. The technicality of that racetrack is so difficult. It’s not like any other racetrack we go to and I know that each and every racetrack is unique, but Darlington is very unique. It has two corners that are very different and the racing surface is very narrow. We predominately race up against the fence, so we’re at 180 miles an hour and you’re trying to run 1 to 2 inches off the wall with very little room for error. One little slip and one little slide and you’re in the fence, so it’s just a very difficult racetrack, but that’s why we all love it. We found a lot of speed when we went there earlier this year and I think we’ve only progressed, so we’re expecting to unload with a fast Renegade Ford this weekend.” Last weekend, you announced that you would continue racing the No. 10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Tell us about that decision. “I’ve learned a lot this year and perhaps the biggest learning was to never say never. I came into this year ready to soak everything up, and I have. I already knew I had the coolest job in the world, but being with my family and being there for Janice and Alex and Abby was really important. My desire to compete and win never wavered, but I didn’t want it to come at the expense of family. We found a way to accommodate both and I’ve never been happier. Smithfield is a big part of that. They’ve been a part of my life for 11 years and, really, my entire NASCAR Cup Series career. They’re family to me. And, of course, it’s always nice to be wanted. Smithfield wanted me to continue representing them. Stewart-Haas Racing wanted me to continue driving their racecars. Everything just aligned and it’s something we all embraced. The original decision to step away from fulltime racing at the end of the season was a family one, and so is this decision. Janice, Alex and Abby are just as excited as I am to continue racing." You’re not in the playoffs this year, but there is still a lot to look forward to. What are your goals for the remainder of the season? “We obviously wish we were in the playoffs to have a run at the championship, so that is tough. This year has had so much parity with new winners and an extremely competitive series. This new car has really leveled the playing field. I think this year is going to be different with cars that are not in the playoffs, though. Our team has found more and more speed each weekend and we’re constantly progressing. We’re not holding back anything for the next 10 weeks. While our goal to win a championship is gone, we’re still planning to run like championship contenders and make our presence known.” TSC PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72454-no-10-renegade-ford-racing-darlington-race-advance | 2022-08-30T18:50:36Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72454-no-10-renegade-ford-racing-darlington-race-advance | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The seventh annual World Short Track Championship goes green at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Oct. 27-29, now boasting a record 10 divisions of racing over three days.
In addition to the nine divisions that competed last year, the Mid-East Motorsports Thunder Bombers have joined the card, accompanying their Crate Modifieds that have traditionally helped form the Hoosier Racing Tire DIRTcar Pro Modified division. These Street Stock-like cars, typically found racing around the weekly tracks of the Southeast, are abundant in numbers and are expected to bring several new competitors to the event.
SRI Performance has also renewed its partnership with the event, joining as title sponsor to complete the formation of the SRI Performance Thunder Bomber division.
Competing Divisions
FOX Factory Pro/604 Late Models
Chevrolet Performance 602 Late Models
Summit Racing Equipment UMP Modifieds
Hoosier Racing Tire Pro/Crate Modifieds
COMP Cams Monster Mini-Stocks
DIRTVision Sport Compacts/Hornets
VP Racing Fuels Sportsman Modifieds
SRI Performance Thunder Bombers
Street Stocks
DIRTcar Pro Stocks
The revamped event format unveiled last year returns for 2022, featuring Championship Qualifier Features on Thursday night for the DIRTcar Pro Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds and Pro Stocks. Then, Heat Races, Last Chance Showdowns and the first round of Hornet Features completes Friday night’s program, while the remaining Last Chance races and Features for all divisions closes out the event on Saturday night.
The Driver Appreciation Pit Party also returns to the schedule on Friday night after racing concludes, featuring music and a bonfire to complete the evening.
Pre-registration is now open for all divisions through Tuesday, Oct. 25. Every driver who pre-registers, regardless of division, will receive one additional entry into the drawing for a brand-new Chevy Performance 604 Crate engine at Saturday’s drivers meeting.
Rules and procedures for all divisions, purses, a complete event schedule, ticket/pit pass/camping prices, and other various event information is now available in the competitor guide, linked below.
DIRTVision will broadcast all the action at The Dirt Track at Charlotte– one week before the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars, CASE Construction Equipment Late Models and Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds take over the facility for the championship determining World of Outlaws World Finals, Nov. 2-5.
DIRTcar Series PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72449-world-short-track-championship-registration-competitor-guide-available | 2022-08-30T18:50:39Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72449-world-short-track-championship-registration-competitor-guide-available | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Stocks are down on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday, extending the market’s late August skid on investor worries that high interest rates aren’t going away any time soon as the Federal Reserve fights inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 1.3% as of 1:57 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is on pace to close lower for the third straight day and is down 3.6% for the month with one full trading day left in August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 337 points, or 1.1%, to 31,761 and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%.
Markets have been weaker since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated Friday that the central bank will stick to its strategy of raising interest rates to try and tame the hottest inflation in four decades.
A strong report on the job market Tuesday morning further diminished any hopes that the Fed would be able to ease up on its inflation-fighting policy. The higher rates the Fed is imposing are meant to keep inflation in check by slowing down the economy, including the pace of hiring.
The government reported that there were were 11.2 million open jobs on the last day of July. That’s near two jobs for every unemployed person, on average. That number was up from 11 million in June, and June’s figure was also revised sharply higher.
“Employers will have to increase their incentives to fill jobs, which could be inflationary,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “We’re not seeing numbers that are consistently offering encouragement.”
Another big data point on the jobs market will arrive Friday when the Labor Department issues its monthly employment report.
Wall Street is worried that the Fed could hit the brakes too hard on an already slowing economy and veer it into a recession. Higher interest rates also hurt investment prices, especially for pricier stocks.
The central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year and is expected to raise short-term rates by another 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting in September, according to CME Group.
Major indexes had gained ground in July and into early August on hopes that weaker economic data would prompt the Fed to ease up on its high-interest rate policy. Those gains followed a weak first half of the year where the S&P 500 dropped 20% from its most recent high and entered a bear market.
Investors have been closely watching economic data for any additional signs that the economy is slowing down or that inflation may be cooling or at least holding at its current level. Businesses and consumers have been hit hard by rising prices on everything from food to clothing, but recent declines in gasoline prices have provided some relief.
Consumers regained some confidence in August, according to a survey from The Conference Board. Its consumer confidence index rose this month after three straight monthly declines. It also rose well above what economists expected.
Technology stocks were a big weight on the market. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.8%. Energy stocks fell along with a 5.4% slide in U.S. crude oil prices. Chevron dropped 2.8%. Best Buy was a bright spot, gaining 1.7% after reporting results for its latest quarter that were much better than analysts were expecting.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.12% from 3.11% late Monday. | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-asian-stocks-after-wall-st-pullback-on-fed-inflation-stance/ | 2022-08-30T18:50:42Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-asian-stocks-after-wall-st-pullback-on-fed-inflation-stance/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BERLIN (AP) — Germany is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage due to Russia’s squeeze on European gas supplies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared Tuesday, even as fears grow about the rising prices that will hit consumers across the continent this winter.
He spoke at the start of a two-day government retreat, attended also by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which focused on the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on Europe’s energy supply.
Scholz cited Germany’s decisions to reactivate oil and coal-fired power plants, mandate the filling of natural gas storage facilities and lease floating liquefied natural gas terminals. A decision on extending the operating life of Germany’s three remaining nuclear power plants is also expected soon.
“All of this and many further measures have contributed to us being in a much better situation as far as supply security is concerned than could have been foreseen a couple of months ago,” Scholz told reporters at the government guest house in Meseberg, north of Berlin.
“We will be able to cope quite well with the threats that we face from Russia, which is using gas as part of its strategy in the war against Ukraine,” he said.
Scholz noted that gas storage facilities are already over 80% full, more than they were at this time last year, and the government is expected to agree on more measures shortly to help German consumers cope with steeply rising energy prices.
Russia’s state-controlled energy company Gazprom further reduced gas deliveries to the French company Engie, raising fears that Moscow might cut off gas completely as political leverage over the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom informed Engie of a reduction in gas deliveries, starting Tuesday, because of “a disagreement between the parties on the application of several contracts,” according to the French energy company. Deliveries for Engie from Gazprom have significantly decreased since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, with recent monthly supply of 1.5 TWh, which compares to Engie’s total annual supplies in Europe above 400 TWh, the company said.
Engie had already secured enough gas to meet its commitments to its customers, the statement said, adding that it has also put in place measures to “significantly reduce any direct financial and physical impact” that could result from Gazprom’s interruption in gas supplies.
Russia has cut off or reduced natural gas to a dozen European Union countries. Since spring, EU leaders have been appealing to the public to use less gas over the summer to build storage for winter. The bloc has proposed that nations voluntary cut their use by 15%. It’s also seeking the power to impose mandatory cuts across the 27-nation bloc if there is risk of severe gas shortage.
France, like other European countries, is trying to beef up its gas reserves for winter and fill up its storage by early autumn to avert an economic and political crisis over energy. The French government rolled out an “energy sobriety” plan in June, targeting a 10% reduction in energy use by 2024.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday urged businesses to make energy saving plans, warning that companies would be hit first should the government be forced into rationing gas and electricity because of severe shortages.
In an effort to wean themselves off Russian gas and reduce the climate impact of the energy sector, European countries have significantly ramped up efforts to build wind, solar and other renewable energies.
Seven Baltic Sea countries — Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark — announced Tuesday a seven-fold increase of wind power production by 2030 in northern Europe as a way to free the region from its dependence on Russian natural gas.
The countries agree to set combined goals for offshore wind in the Baltic Sea region of at least 19.6 GW by 2030. The present capacity of the Baltic Sea region is currently under 3 gigawatts. Under the plan, up to 1,700 new offshore wind turbines would produce power equivalent to almost 20 nuclear power plants, providing enough electricity for up to 30 million households.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is using energy as a weapon and has put Europe on the brink of an energy crisis with skyrocketing prices,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the new plan also will allow the countries “to have more affordable energy prices” while her Latvian counterpart, Arturs Krisjanis Karins, said “this can be done if we’re working together.”
“That is amazing. Up to 20 gigawatt by 2030,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said during the one-day Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Copenhagen. “It is already one-third of the overall EU ambition for offshore wind capacity by 2030.”
The energy crisis has prompted some European countries to call for previously shelved energy projects to be revived, such as a gas pipeline linking the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe.
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Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France, and Jan M. Olsen from Copenhagen, Denmark. Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin. | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-germany-upbeat-on-energy-security-russia-cuts-gas-to-france/ | 2022-08-30T18:50:56Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-germany-upbeat-on-energy-security-russia-cuts-gas-to-france/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net, NASCAR Driver Ryan Ellis, and Alpha Prime Racing are proud to announce today that Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net will be running a throwback paintscheme honoring NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, at Darlington Raceway this Saturday, September 3rd, 2022.
The scheme represented is the iconic flames scheme that 4-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jeff Gordon drove for many years, with this particular design replicated after his a special race in 2007 in the No.24 for Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon ran this fire-and-flames scheme when he tied Dale Earnhardt’s win record at 76 wins - April 21st, 2007. Gordon was also Ellis’ favorite driver growing up ith Ellis making his Cup Series debut at Phoenix in 2015, Gordon’s last full-time season.
CorvetteParts.net, a family-owned business owned by Tom and TJ Keen, sells parts and accessories for Corvette-lovers of all generations. They have been loyal NASCAR sponsors and friends of many within the industry since 2011, supporting drivers of all levels since then. The Keen’s are known for using their sponsorship to create fun and meaningful schemes - last month they elected to donate their sponsorship to run a special Autism Awareness / Autism Acceptance scheme at Michigan International Speedway with a colorful hand-drawn car, created by the family of former NHL Player Chris Thorburn and his wife Sara. Their three children, Bennett, Mary, and Oscar, sketched out the car’s design at home. Later in September, they will run a lavender scheme at Bristol Motor Speedway, raising money for the Laughlin Family Foundation and their mission to fight rare cancers.
“We are excited to have this Jeff Gordon throwback for Ryan. He is a big fan of Jeff Gordon and I don’t think the designer (Alpha Prime Racing designer Ryan Pistana) could have gotten any closer to replicating the original car as this. We know it is going to look really sweet on track,” said TJ Keen.
“Jeff was definitely my favorite driver growing up so it’s really cool to be able to run this scheme with Keen Parts. I had so much “24” apparel and dressed up as Jeff for Halloween, so it’ll be really meaningful to put a similar looking firesuit on and strap into the CorvetteParts.net Chevy at Darlington Raceway. Darlington is one of the most iconic tracks on our schedule so there could not be a better place to do this at. We’re really thankful to have such creative and flexible partners as the Keen’s - their brand flexibility is what makes so many of their paint schemes fan-favorites,” said Ellis, driver of the No.44 Keen Parts Chevy.
Tommy Joe Martins, General Manager of Alpha Prime Racing, said, “This is such a cool throwback to one of the greatest drivers in the history of our sport. Thanks to Jeff Gordon for giving us a chance and Tom and TJ Keen for all they do for our race team.”
Tune-in information: The Keen Parts’ throwback paint scheme will first hit the track at 10:05 am ET on Saturday, September 3rd for a short practice session. Single-lap qualifying follows at 10:35 am ET leading into Saturday afternoon’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, with coverage beginning at 3:00 pm ET on the USA Network. Stay tuned to Ryan’s and Keen Parts’ social media for giveaways and more information!
APR PR | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/72450-keen-parts-honors-jeff-gordon-with-throwback-paint-scheme-at-darlington | 2022-08-30T18:51:03Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/72450-keen-parts-honors-jeff-gordon-with-throwback-paint-scheme-at-darlington | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of open jobs in the United States rose in July after three months of declines, a sign that employers are still urgently seeking workers despite a weakening economy and high inflation.
The increase that the government reported Tuesday will be a disappointment for Federal Reserve officials, who are seeking to cool hiring and the economy by raising short-term interest rates to try to slow borrowing and spending, which tend to fuel inflation. Fed officials hope that their policies will serve primarily to reduce job openings and spare workers the pain of widespread layoffs and higher unemployment.
There were 11.2 million open jobs available on the last day of July — nearly two jobs, on average, for every unemployed person — up from 11 million in June. June’s figure was also revised sharply higher.
“The Fed has made very little progress in terms of narrowing the gap between labor supply and demand,” Aneta Markowska, chief economist at investment bank Jefferies, wrote in a research note.
Reducing the high demand for workers to a level closer to the available supply would ease the pressure on companies to pay higher wages to attract and keep workers. Higher pay has been passed on by many businesses to consumers in the form of higher prices, thereby intensifying inflation.
Last month, job openings rose in retail, warehousing and shipping, professional services, and in state and local education. Openings declined in manufacturing and health care.
The number of people who quit their jobs declined slightly in July, to 4.18 million from 4.25 million in June, according to Tuesday’s report. People typically quit jobs for a new position, usually at higher pay. As a result, fewer quits could lessen the pressure on companies to raise pay. But quitting still remains far above pre-pandemic levels, when it rarely topped 3 million.
The data released Tuesday also included a measure of layoffs, which slipped slightly in July. Despite high-profile reports of job cuts, the report reinforced the impression that most companies are holding onto the vast majority of their employees.
Job vacancies have been elevated since the economy began recovering from the pandemic recession more than two years ago. As demand has rapidly rebounded, employers have sought to quickly add workers.
When COVID-19 struck and widespread shutdowns were imposed in March and April of 2020, businesses slashed 22 million jobs. Yet not all workers have returned as the economy has recovered. There are now fewer people working or looking for work compared with pre-pandemic trends. The number of open jobs reached a record level of 11.9 million in March, before declining for three months. Before the pandemic, they had never topped 8 million.
The latest figures suggest that demand for workers remains hot. On Friday, the government will release its monthly jobs report, which is expected to show that 300,000 jobs were added, a slowdown from the previous month when hiring topped a half-million, but still a healthy number.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers have said they hope to reduce the number of open jobs without causing much higher unemployment. Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, and Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, have argued that such an outcome is unlikely.
“A reduction in (job) vacancies can take place without a big loss of employment, and this is the kind of soft landing anticipated” by Fed officials, Christopher Waller, a member of the central bank’s Board of Governors, said last month.
The Fed is trying to engineer a so-called soft landing — a slowdown in the economy that reduces inflation — currently near four-decade highs — without causing a recession.
Yet Blanchard and Summers argue that historically, job openings have never declined without an accompanying rise in layoffs.
“The sad truth is that there is no such thing as a slowdown without an increase in unemployment,” Blanchard wrote earlier this month, calling the Fed’s efforts to lower job vacancies without increasing layoffs “a vain hope.” | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-job-vacancies-rose-in-july-dashing-fed-hopes-for-cooling/ | 2022-08-30T18:51:11Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-job-vacancies-rose-in-july-dashing-fed-hopes-for-cooling/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — There is only so much farmland in the United States, so when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last spring prompted worries that people would go hungry as wheat remained stuck in blockaded ports, there was little U.S. farmers could do to meet the new demand.
But that may be changing.
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture instituted new policies to encourage American farmers to begin growing two crops on one piece of land, one after the other, a practice known as double-cropping. By changing insurance rules to lessen the risk of growing two crops, the USDA hopes to significantly increase the amount of wheat that U.S. farmers could grow every year, lessening the reliance on big wheat producers like Ukraine and Russia and eliminating bottlenecks.
The idea is an intriguing development from the Ukraine war that hasn’t received widespread attention. As fall approaches, it’s unclear how many farmers will actually try the new system, but some who already grow two crops say it’s something farmers should consider.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Illinois farmer Jeff O’Connor, who has double-cropped for years and hosted President Joe Biden at an event in May to promote efforts to increase food production. “How successful it will be, I don’t know.”
Even if the effort is only moderately successful, agriculture groups are hoping for new ways of meeting a growing global demand for food while generating more profit for farmers amid high fertilizer and fuel costs. As Andrew Larson with the Illinois Soybean Association put it, “It removes some of the hurdles and provides a lot more flexibility.”
In 2020, the U.S. exported wheat valued at $6.3 billion. The U.S. along with Russia, Australia and Canada usually lead the world in wheat exports, with Ukraine typically ranked fifth, though its shipments will drop this year due to the war.
Double-cropping isn’t new in parts of the South and southern Midwest, which have the key advantage of longer growing seasons. Those warmer temperatures let farmers squeeze in a fall planting of one crop — usually winter wheat — that is dormant over the winter and then grows and can be harvested in late spring, just as farmers plant a second crop — typically soybeans.
The problem comes when cool weather delays the spring harvest of wheat, which in turn delays the planting of soybeans. And that’s where the USDA’s new effort could ease the risk of a costly planting backup.
The USDA’s Risk Management Agency would streamline crop insurance approvals for farmers planting a second crop in more than 1,500 counties where double-cropping seems viable. The agency also would work with crop insurers and farm groups to promote a greater availability of coverage in other counties.
In announcing its effort, the USDA said it was aiming to “stabilize food prices and feed Americans and the world amidst continuing challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
The USDA didn’t mention climate change, but the agency and other experts have long said warming temperatures will spur farmers to rethink what they grow and how.
The new program is focused more on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is a leading supplier of wheat to people in Africa and the Middle East. After the invasion, wheat prices nearly doubled to over $12 a bushel, though since then prices have steadily dropped as supply concerns have eased, in part because of agreements that have allowed for the export of some Ukraine wheat.
The USDA didn’t respond to a request for details about how many farmers the agency hopes will begin double-cropping or how much U.S production could increase.
Farmers who double-crop often have smaller crops, but two smaller crops would still be significantly larger than an individual crop.
A study published in August by the University of Illinois and Ohio State University found that was certainly the case this year, as high wheat prices resulted in double-cropped land in southern Illinois bringing a projected $251 per acre return for wheat and soybeans, which is $81 higher than a stand-alone soybean crop. The double-crop benefit was less dramatic in other parts of the state and could be less if wheat prices drop.
Mark Lehenbauer, who raises livestock and grows row crops near Palmyra, Missouri, said he’s double-cropped for years and finds it reliably profitable. Still, he cautions that there is a years-long learning curve as farmers learn how to accomplish the task of planting one crop just as they need to harvest another.
And Lehenbauer acknowledged that many farmers may simply be reluctant to take on the added risks or extra workload.
“There are a lot of extra steps in there,” Lehenbauer said. “It adds some complexity.”
Ultimately, the biggest factor behind whether farmers begin growing an extra crop of wheat is what price they can get for the crop, said Pat Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri. Although prices have dropped from the peaks soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they remain at the still profitable level of nearly $8 a bushel.
“It really comes down to where wheat prices go in the future,” he said. “Even with the drop in prices we’ve seen, wheat prices are pretty high so there should be a little more incentive for wheat double cropping in this next year than there has been.”
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Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-us-asks-farmers-can-you-plant-2-crops-instead-of-1/ | 2022-08-30T18:51:32Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-us-asks-farmers-can-you-plant-2-crops-instead-of-1/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Spartanburg County and South Carolina Veterans’ Affairs signed an agreement on Tuesday to take part in the ‘Combined Arms’ initiative.
The Texas-based program provides veterans with easy access to various resources at all levels, from state to federal.
The ‘Combined Arms’ initiative is a non-profit that helps establish organizations that support veterans. With this new partnership, veterans in Spartanburg can have referrals to one of these organizations within 72 hours. Through the program, veterans are also given 24-hour support for health, housing, and even unemployment.
“We want veterans of South Carolina to thrive,” said David Rozelle, Director of Operations for the SC Department of Veterans Affairs. “Right now we have an all-time low of unemployment for veterans in South Carolina. We’re proud of that but that doesn’t mean we can continue to work to find them better jobs so they can get above the cost of living in South Carolina and they can afford the homes”
“These platforms will allow us to farm out the resources so to speak to where we can actually connect those veterans a lot quicker,” added Brent Cobb, Director of Spartanburg Co. Veterans Affairs.
Spartanburg is the first county in the state to join the coalition. For more information, click here. | https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/spartanburg-co-sc-veterans-affairs-join-combined-arms-initiative/ | 2022-08-30T18:51:58Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/spartanburg-co-sc-veterans-affairs-join-combined-arms-initiative/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina House members plan to debate a new total ban on abortion Tuesday with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest even as some Republicans in the GOP-dominated chamber suggested they can’t vote for the bill as written.
But if the exceptions are put into the bill, the chamber’s most conservative members could join with Democrats to kill the bill, too.
On the day before the debate, one of the most conservative House lawmakers said 20 Republican have signed his letter saying they would not commit to voting for the total ban with the rape and incest exceptions, which with the votes against from 43 Democrats would be enough to kill the bill.
“With a solid Republican majority in the South Carolina Legislature, there is no reason or excuse we should have to negotiate a lesser position,” Republican Rep. Stewart Jones said.
The state currently has a six-week ban but the South Carolina Supreme Court suspended the law earlier this month while the justices decide on a Planned Parenthood lawsuit that says the ban is an unreasonable invasion of privacy under the state constitution. The decision leaves South Carolina’s abortion ban at 20 weeks for now.
Supporters of the total ban in South Carolina want to follow the lead of Indiana, which earlier in August passed a total ban to go into effect on Sept. 15 with exceptions for rape, incest and if the mother’s life is in danger. West Virginia’s House and Senate couldn’t agree on stricter abortion rules in a July session.
Thirteen states have so-called trigger laws designed to outlaw most abortions when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the constitutional right to end a pregnancy in June.
South Carolina leaders have watched those developments carefully, as well as events several weeks ago in Kansas, where nearly 60% of voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the state’s conservative Legislature to ban abortion. Republican Donald Trump received 56% of the 2020 presidential vote in Kansas. Trump won 55% in South Carolina.
Republican leaders in the South Carolina House allowed for the speaker to call the special session after the leak of a draft opinion indicating the U.S. Supreme Court would allow states to ban abortion. Lawmakers started working on the total ban after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June.
A special House committee then heard public testimony and drafted the total ban bill. It allows abortions if a mother’s life is in danger and then lists a number of different medical emergencies that would fit into that exception.
The House Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the House floor on a 13-7 vote. All yes votes were from Republicans and all votes against the bill were from Democrats. But three Republican committee members who were at the meeting did not vote.
It’s not just the exceptions making some Republicans pause. The bill includes a statement that “it is undisputed that the life of every human being begins at conception” and some conservatives said they must figure out whether that means child support and tax breaks begin at conception, too.
The South Carolina House has 80 Republicans, 43 Democrats and one vacancy. The bill needs a majority vote to be sent to the Senate, where stricter bans on abortions have seen tougher fights.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster hasn’t given his opinion on this specific bill but has said he would like to see a day where there are no abortions in the state.
___
Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-abortion-ban-faces-exceptions-fight-in-south-carolina-house/ | 2022-08-30T18:52:10Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-abortion-ban-faces-exceptions-fight-in-south-carolina-house/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
City plans streetscapes for downtown
ZANESVILLE − As the City of Zanesville is looking at ways to improve the look of its downtown, it is considering two separate streetscape projects to tie various parts of downtown together.
City Council has heard two ordinances; first to find a final plan for a streetscape in front of city hall, then a larger ordinance to develop a streetscape plan for the city's Gateway District, the area around Secrest Auditorium that is the city's entertainment district.
Market Street and its attendant sidewalks and streetscape was damaged during utility work following the fire at the Masonic Temple earlier this year. "Market Street never looked great because we had not gotten to it from a streetscape point, it looks really bad after getting torn up over the winter," said Scott Brown, the city's public service director.
Many of the streets downtown got new streetscape over the years, with new light poles and a brick edging to the sidewalk. Market Street was not completed before funding ran out. The road and sidewalks were damaged after utilities were moved to make way for the demolition of the burnt out ruins of the Masonic Temple.
"It is a not a very inviting entrance to city hall," Zanesville Mayor Don Mason said. "We are looking at options to landscape it and make it more inviting. We are trying to do something economical, but looks attractive."
The early plan for a streetscape, designed by OHM, the company who designed the streetscape in downtown Newark, costs about $700,000, Brown said, but significant cost cutting could be done. A large portion of that expense would be completely removing both the road and sidewalks down to dirt and rebuilding.
Early drawings so new ADA compliant ramps into City Hall, a Z embossed into the concrete in from of City Hall, landscaped islands, and colored concrete on the sidewalks. Brown said the landscapes islands would likely go, because it could impede trucks trying to get to Nestle/Purina. A large savings would be had by dispensing with the colored concrete, dropping from the neighborhood of $60 per square foot down to about $17. The project could end up being closer to $400,000, closer to what the cost of the work done on South Street, which did not include a full-depth replacement of the roadway.
Two parking spaces would be lost, replaced with landscaping. New lighting would be suspended over the street in a zig-zap fashion. Brown noted that the city would likely forego the proposed embossed Z in front of City Hall, as it would read as an N from certain directions.
"This is City Hall, is should be a prized location, and for one reason or another it has been a bit of an eyesore. We have not even done regular landscaping to try and identify the heart of the city," Brown said. Making downtown more attractive to outside investment for the city's continued growth, he said.
The legislation approved by council will create a final design, and once that is approved, the project will be bid out.
"We are looking at repurposing the entire Third, Shinnick, Elberon and Fouth Street area into an entertainment district," Mason said. "We really need someone to come in and take a look, tell us what is there and what can be refreshed, and what needs to be taken out."
To that end, the city plans on retaining Gossman Group to assess the area for potential improvements, including streetscapes to tie the area together. The proposal from Gossman Group says "While there is evidence of reinvestment in the John McIntire Library and retail and commercial buildings at Market and 4th streets, gaps in ground floor activity, a lack of street tree canopy and the open parking lots creates a more automotive-oriented sense of place and less appealing pedestrian environment."
Gossman will provide a plan to make the area more pedestrian friendly, including three budget levels of streetscape improvements, including special paving, seating, and a district identity.
"People will come and travel to downtown Zanesville," Mason said. "With I70 scheduled for it's face lift, I want to make sure when everything reopens, that Zanesville is the gateway to Southeast Ohio."
The cost of the Gateway streetscape study is be about $49,700.
ccrook@gannett.com
740-868-3708 | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/city-considering-streetscapes-options-to-make-downtown-more-attractive/65406069007/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:19Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/city-considering-streetscapes-options-to-make-downtown-more-attractive/65406069007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BOSTON (SHNS) The justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court “discern no merit” to the arguments that Republican Party officials made earlier this summer in a rejected attempt to block parts of the state’s new vote-by-mail and early voting law, the court said in an explanation of its ruling Tuesday.
Republican Party Chairman James Lyons and a handful of Republican candidates or party officials filed a lawsuit in June seeking to overturn the so-called VOTES Act, which made voting-by-mail and early voting permanent in Massachusetts. The plaintiffs argued before the SJC in early July that the law, which codified pandemic-era policies that proved popular with voters, violated the allowances for absentee voting contained in Article 105 of the state Constitution and that Secretary of State William Galvin should have been blocked from sending mail-in ballot applications out.
The court quickly ruled in favor of Galvin on all claims on July 11 but said time pressures meant that a detailed reasoning for its decision to allow mail-in voting to proceed would have to follow in due time. As of Friday, about 250,000 people had requested, filled out and returned mail-in ballots for the Sept. 6 state primaries, Galvin’s office said.
Lyons and the GOP pointed to part of the Massachusetts Constitution that explicitly allows for absentee voting for three reasons — when a voter is going to be out of town for Election Day, has a disability, or has a religious-based conflict with Election Day — and argued that those were the only allowable reasons a voter should vote by mail. The lawsuit argued that, except for those three absentee voting allowances, the Legislature does not have the authority to provide any form of voting other than in-person on the day of a primary or election.
“We disagree,” Justice Scott Kafker wrote for the court in a 61-page opinion released Tuesday. “Voting is a fundamental right, and nothing in art. 45, as amended by art. 105, or in other parts of the Constitution cited by the plaintiffs, prohibits the Legislature, which has plenary constitutional powers, including broad powers to regulate the process of elections and even broader powers with respect to primaries, from enhancing voting opportunities. This is particularly true with respect to the universal early voting provisions in the VOTES act, which, in stark contrast to the narrow and discrete absentee-voting provisions of art. 45, enhance voting opportunities equally for all voters.”
Kafker wrote that the seven justices of the SJC, each of whom was appointed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, “discern no merit” to the other claims in the MassGOP lawsuit.
A spokesman for the Republican Party did not respond Tuesday when given an opportunity for the party or chairman to weigh in on the SJC’s rationale. The party did not respond to a question about the status of the U.S. Supreme Court appeal that Lyons said in July he would undertake to “provide relief to prevent a constitutional travesty.”
During oral arguments in July, the VOTES Act’s extension of the existing electioneering buffer zone requirements for Election Day polling places to early voting locations during voting hours was one area of the MassGOP’s complaint that justices zoomed in on.
Michael Walsh, a Lynnfield attorney representing Lyons and the plaintiffs, wrote in his brief that the electioneering ban is “no longer a narrowly-tailored impingement upon free speech” and that it “restricts all manner of access to the government” if a city or town hall hosts early voting and is therefore covered by the buffer law.
Kafker took note of the expansion of the times when the 150-foot buffer zones are in effect and what that could mean for the expression of rights by citizens when government buildings are functioning as early voting locations.
“I’m just trying to understand,” he said in July. “So we’ve got these smaller towns in Massachusetts where town hall is, basically, the single public forum … and it’s going to be shut down for two weeks or so.”
In the written ruling released Tuesday, Kafker notes that towns with fewer than 5,000 registered voters are required to hold only four additional hours of early voting, to be held on weekends. He said that covers one-third of Massachusetts municipalities.
“Although the act’s sliding scale requires longer hours for larger municipalities — up to two full weeks of voting in the Commonwealth’s largest cities — those are communities that provide many other public forums for campaigning,” Kafker wrote. Quoting a previous case as precedent, he added, “Doubtlessly a significantly more expansive combination of time and space restriction would constitute an impermissible restraint on speech, but here we are confident that the VOTES act’s application of [the electioneering ban] remains ‘on the constitutional side of the line.’ “ | https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/high-court-outlines-rejection-of-voting-reform-challenge/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:20Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/high-court-outlines-rejection-of-voting-reform-challenge/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Eagle Scout donates stained-glass window to GenesisSubmitted by Genesis HealthCare SystemView CommentsView CommentsView CommentsView Comments | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/eagle-scout-donates-stained-glass-window-to-genesis/65460064007/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:25Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/eagle-scout-donates-stained-glass-window-to-genesis/65460064007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Local News Briefs: ZPD seeks missing person
ZPD seeks missing person
ZANESVILLE − The Zanesville Police Department is seeking a missing person who was last seen in the Putnam Avenue area on Aug. 22.
Christopher Black, 22, is approximately 6-feet tall and weighs 157 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the ZPD at 740-455-0700.
MVESC having meeting
ZANESVILLE − The Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center governing board will meet in regular session session at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at the center's office, 205 N. Seventh St.
Community Foundation to hold fall grant competition
ZANESVILLE − The Muskingum County Community Foundation is accepting applications for its second annual fall grant competition through noon Sept. 30.
The program is for non-profit organizations in Muskingum County seeking funding for capital improvement projects only. Five grants of $10,000 each are to awarded. For more information and application forms, go to mccf.org.
Senior Card Showers
Birthday
Sister Patricia A. Armbrust, formerly of Zanesville, Carroll Manor Nursing Home, Room 235, 725 Buchanan St., Washington D.C., 20017, is turning 91 on Sept. 1. | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/local-news-briefs/65461430007/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:31Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/08/30/local-news-briefs/65461430007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Roundup: State-power Hartley turns away Sheridan volleyball
THORNVILLE — Central Ohio power Columbus Hartley has been the nemesis of Muskingum Valley League volleyball teams in recent years, so its win on Monday against host Sheridan wasn't a surprise.
But the Generals showed some potential, climbing back from a lopsided 25-10 loss in the first set with a 25-20 comeback win in the second to even the match. The veteran Hawks proved too much, though, rolling to wins of 25-15 and 25-16 in the final two sets to pull away in a nonleague match at Glen Hursey Gymnasium.
Hartley defeated the Generals (2-1) in last year's regional semifinals, then did the same to Tri-Valley in the finals to advance to the state tournament. The Hawks return their entire roster, including 6-3 All-Ohio middle hitter Ella Brandewie, a player who ranked nationally.
It was Sheridan's first loss after wins against New Lexington and River View to start the season. The Generals' youthful squad, which is replacing one of the most successful senior classes in school history, hopes they can build off the positives from the loss.
No loss loomed larger on Monday than 6-1 All-Ohio middle hitter Faith Stinson, now playing basketball at Akron, whose long frame went nose-to-nose with Brandewie at the net at last year's regional.
This Generals squad a shorter on the front line, relaying more on quickness than size. They are also working back Nora Saffell, their top front row player, back slowly after an injury cost her three weeks.
Nonetheless, Sheridan coach Mandy Fox left feeling optimistic about her team, which played better in the final three sets after being stunned early.
"That's a state championship-caliber team," Fox said. "They cover all of the bases. They don't have any holes."
Junior Jamisyn Stinson, Faith's sister, tallied 16 kills and was active on defense with 13 digs and three blocks. She also connected on 10 of 11 serves and had three aces.
Reagan Davis added 14 digs, Alyssa Ward nine kills with four digs and Alexis Bradley 14 assists with four kills and 10 digs for the Generals.
Fox said the team's passing was off on Monday, which led to mistakes within the offense.
"I really like where we are as a team," Fox said. "We're way ahead of where we were last year at this time. Their chemistry is awesome."
Sheridan's reserves dropped a 20-25, 12-25 decision. Madison Hupp had three kills, Lily Talbot six assists and Maddie Bishop 13 digs for Sheridan.
Sheridan took the freshman match, 25-19, 25-17, behind four kills and seven assists from Ella Thomas and nine digs from Laken Wilson.
Maysville 25, 25, 25, Zanesville 9, 18, 10: Olivia McPeek served six aces with four digs and Rachel Jarvis hit five kills and made four digs, as the Panthers (3-4) swept the Lady Devils.
Bekah Scott had six digs and three aces, Taelynn Dickinson also made six digs with four kills and Arissa Savage had two kills and two assists for Maysville.
The Maysville reserves also won 25-14, 25-14, as Bella Pfeifer had five aces and four kills, Rachel Gundelfinger passed out nine assists and Avyen Johnson had five aces and two kills.
No leaders were reported for Zanesville.
Boys Golf
Rosecrans wins MSL Midseason meet: Charlie Peterson was overall medalist with 83 and Weston Hartman was third with 86 to lead the Bishops to the MSL-Cardinal midseason title at Turnberry.
Nathan Hart added 93 and Evan Bauer 102 for Rosecrans, which shot 364.
Harrison Teal shot 84 for runner-up Harrison Teal, of Fairfield Christian, which placed third with 423. Grove City Christian was second with 413. | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/sports/2022/08/30/state-power-hartley-turns-away-sheridan-volleyball/65463191007/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:37Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/sports/2022/08/30/state-power-hartley-turns-away-sheridan-volleyball/65463191007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Area players recognized as OPSWA releases its Week 2 notebook
COLUMBUS — The fastest 10 weeks of the year is already two weeks deep.
In a combined effort, the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association would like to highlight athletes and teams who had standout performances with the OPSWA High School Football Notebook. Each week, the OPSWA will release its top performers from all around the state.
In no particular order, here are Week 2’s standouts:
New Lexington’s Lukas Ratliff went 15-of-25 for 236 yards with three TDs; Hunter Rose raced for 176 yards and two scores on 13 carries; and Jerek Braglin had five receptions for 100 yards with two TDs in a 38-18 victory over Maysville.
Morgan’s Logan Niceswanger went 18 of 24 for 299 yards with a TD; Kole Searl had seven catches for 142 yards and a score; and Carson Copeland ran for 129 yards and scored the game-winning TD and caught five passes for 80 yards in a 28-24 win over Vincent Warren.
West Muskingum’s Ty Shawger found the end zone three times and Jake Anton tossed a pair of TDs in a 33-2 rout of Marietta.
Rosecrans’ Brody Zemba had 108 yards and two TDs on the ground and Brendan Bernath threw for 108 yards and two scores and ran for another in a 47-8 victory over Millersport.
Tri-Valley’s Max Lyall hit Ashton Sensibaugh for three touchdowns in a 27-21 win over Licking Heights. Lyall went 15 of 22 for 248 yards and four TDs and Sensibaugh had five catches for 108 yards.
Ridgewood’s Carter Fry churned up 108 yards and a score and Josiah Cahill contributed 51 yards and two TDs on nine carries and grabbed an interception during a 41-14 rout of River View.
Old Washington Buckeye Trail junior Koen Eagon returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a loss at Cadiz Harrison Central. They were 93 and 90 yards, respectively.
The Mansfield Senior Tygers produced a ton of superlatives in a 42-9 win over North Canton Hoover on Friday night. They scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, the most since scoring 22 in a 29-15 win over Ashland on Sept. 28, 2012. They scored 35 points in the second half alone which is the most since at least 2008 as junior quarterback Duke Reese orchestrated a second half explosion going 10-of-15 with 174 yards and two touchdowns and no turnovers. Last year, in a 21-17 win over Hoover, the Tygers ran for -41 yards before turning it around in 2022 with 144 rushing yards on Friday night for an amazing 185-yard turnaround. Keontez Bradley provided the highlight of the night with a 95-yard punt return for a score.
Shelby freshman quarterback Brayden DeVito shined in the first start of his career in a 53-21 win over Lexington as he completed 19-of-29 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another to account for five scores. His favorite target was Issaiah Ramsey who caught nine passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. The Whippets are 2-0.
The Lucas Cubs woke up Saturday morning to find their field had been destroyed by vandalism and moved their home game against Hillsdale to Clear Fork High School and came away with a 14-13 win, their second one-point game in as many weeks, to end an emotional day. Logan Toms scored the game-winning touchdown and ran for 74 yards in the victory.
For the first time since 2013, the Ontario Warriors are 2-0 to start the season. Ontario beat St. Paul 35-19 behind an well-rounded offensive attack led by sophomore quarterback Bodpegn Miller who completed 11-of-17 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns while running for 29 yards and another score. Running back duo of Chase Studer and Drew Yetter combined for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Ashland Crestview’s Adison Reymer piled up 140 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in the Cougars’ 35-0 win over East Knox as one of the most anticipated games in Mid-Ohio ended in a convincing running-clock win for Crestview.
Madison Comprehensive’s Cameron Kuhn set a new program record for pass attempts in a 44-28 loss to River Valley when he finished 33-for-76 for 348 yards and three touchdowns while Peyton Myers was his main target catching 16 passes for 160 yards and two TDs.
After rushing for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Waverly Tigers against Miami Trace in week one, Waverly junior running back Jase Hurd followed it up with 31 carries for 286 yards and five touchdowns in the Tigers' 53-28 victory at Johnstown-Monroe on Friday, Aug. 26.
Quarterback Will Cooper completed 26 of 36 passes for a program record 393 yards to go with five touchdowns and no interceptions in Thomas Worthington's 38-0 win over crosstown rival Worthington Kilbourne. Joey Zalewski led Cooper's arsenal with nine catches for 147 yards and a touchdown and Simon Smith added two TD grabs.
Nasir Phillips amassed 186 yards on 28 carries with a pair of TDs to pace Westerville South over Westerville Central 30-7. South took an 8-6 lead in the rivalry dubbed the Battle of the Ville.
The Columbus City League was forced to cancel 11 games involving its 15 teams because of a teachers strike in the state's largest district that was settled at the 11th hour Aug. 25. Practices for extracurricular events resumed Aug. 26 and Week 3 games are expected to be played.
Due to at least 15 cases of COVID-19 within the team, Bexley was forced to cancel its Week 2 game at Hamilton Township.
The Willard football team had a record-breaking night across the board on offense in a 77-35 rout over nearby rival Plymouth on Aug. 26. Willard quarterback Isaac Robinson was 26-of-36 passing for 529 yards and 5 touchdowns. That set new program marks for passing yards in a game, previously held by Cooper Parrott (409) in 2018, and tied TD passes in a game with former NFL QB Charlie Frye (1999). Meanwhile, Cam Robinson's 5 TD catches is a mark he's set twice in consecutive weeks, which prior to, had stood for 23 years (1999). Running back Austin Parsons scored five times on the ground, tying a mark that has previously stood for 87 and 101 years, respectively. Chuck Langhurst (1921 vs. Plymouth) and Harrison Hammock (1935 vs. Attica) also ran for 5 TDs in a single game. Lastly, kicker Luis Antonio went 11-for-11 on extra points to set a new mark for PATs in a game, which had been done previously four times in 1990 and 1999. Defensively, Aiden Bates tied multiple players with two fumble recoveries in one game.
Carlisle senior quarterback Brandon Hampton completed 8 of 10 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns in leading the now 2-0 Indians to a 61-7 rout of Miami East on Friday. Jonathan Ricketts and Silas Borders each had 100-plus yards receiving in the win. Ricketts caught three passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, while Borders hauled in a pair of receptions for 101 yards and a score.
Aiden Brown returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown with 7 seconds left to secure Badin's 27-14 win over Columbus St. Francis de Sales on Friday. The Rams, who were the Division III state runners-up in 2021, are now 2-0 to begin the season.
Monroe's Brayden Reece only had one rushing attempt on Friday night, but it was a big one as he ran 5 yards to the end zone for a touchdown lifting the Hornets to a 13-9 win over Butler County rival Ross, a team they had not beaten since 1998. Monroe is 2-0 to start the season.
Centerville senior RB Emable Wakilongo had 23 carries for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the Elks' 48-4 win over Dublin Coffman. His final two scores (58, and 30 yards) turned a 27-14 game into a 41-14 score. Senior Nic Bruder returned a punt 42 yards, while senior Cameron Gay had an 87-yard interception return.
Jamestown Greeneview senior QB Cole DeHaven completed 6 of 12 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown while also running 23 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-35 win over Waynesville.
Fairborn senior WR Caelan Bush had eight catches for 144 yards and a touchdown, while also intercepting a pass and recording five tackles in the Skyhawks' 35-21 loss to Vandalia Butler.
A 20 carry, 249 rushing yard game by Xenia's Trei'Shaun Sanders led the Bucs to a 50-20 win at Troy. He nearly outgained the Trojans' offense by himself. Teammate Tremell Wright, a senior WR/DB had seven catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Wright also had seven tackles. Sanders has 400 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season.
Kettering Fairmont senior RB Drew Baker had 30 carries for 172 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-14 win over Trotwood Madison. The Firebirds did not attempt a pass in the game.
Springfield senior QB Bryce Schondelmyer completed 24 of 47 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns in the Wildcats 29-22 win over De Smet (Missouri).
Springboro senior QB Evan Ruzzo completed 10 of 15 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns while running 26 times for 217 yards and a touchdown in the Panthers' 27-21 win over Cincinnati Withrow.
Clayton Northmont senior WR DaJuan Lamb had six catches for 204 yards and three touchdowns in the Thunderbolts' 56-0 win over Richmond (Indiana).
Quarterback Oakley Kemp rushed for 281 yards and three touchdowns as Lodi Cloverleaf defeated LaGrange Keystone 35-19.
Running back Troy McCann scored on Medina Buckeye's first play from scrimmage for the second straight week, this time from 80 yards in a 41-21 victory over Amherst.
Senior running back Connor Walendzak of Perrysburg ran for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and caught three passes for 85 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-21 win against Findlay.
Findlay had few highlights in Friday’s 49-21 loss to Perrysburg, but one was a 100-yard kickoff return by Donovan Harris.
Upper Scioto Valley’s Alex Sanders (130 yards rushing) had four rushing touchdowns in the Rams 53-7 win over Cory-Rawson, and Pandora-Gilboa’s Ethan Luginbill (164 yards rushing)had four rushing TDs in the Rockets 42-7 win over Bluffton.
Senior quarterback Alex Williams of Rossford completed 23 of 33 passes for 379 yards with six touchdowns in a 58-51 loss to Port Clinton.
Senior running back Mason Oliver of Elmwood ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in a 36-16 win over Milan Edison.
Lakeside Dragon’s Running back J’Shon Sanders is quietly carving up opposing defenses. The unheralded 5’9” senior posted 178 yards rushing on the road at Madison (Lake County) in Week 2. With the Dragons trailing 10-7 at halftime, two of Sanders three touchdown runs would come in the final two quarters as his team went on to win, 28-10. Lakeside advances to 2-0 on season.
Beavercreek's Sean Morse made two crucial field goals, including one from 41 yards late in the fourth quarter, to help put to an end the Beavers' 12-game losing streak spanning since Nov. 2020.
If fantasy football were a thing for high schools, consider Avon and Medina prime players high in a draft. They got together Friday for a record-setting night in Avon’s 43-42 home win. First, start with Medina junior quarterback Danny Stoddard. The junior broke Drew Allar’s single-game passing record, which the Penn State recruit set early last year at Stow, by throwing for 621 yards and six TDs of 39-of-52 passing. It is the sixth-most passing yards in OHSAA history for a single game. Kenton’s Grant Sherman set the state record of 684 yards in a 2012 game against Lima Shawnee. Stoddard’s top target, senior Brennen Schramm, turned 14 receptions into 293 yards and three TDs. Schramm already holds several Medina single-season receiving records from last season.
Then there’s Avon junior running back Jakorion Caffey, who rushed for 291 yards and three TDs on 26 carries for the victorious Eagles. He provided the game-clinching score with 1:09 left before Medina raced back for another TD, but could not get the winning two-point conversion.
After a 2-8 season last year, Mayfield is 2-0 with two perfect first halves. The Wildcats scored on every possession in the first half of their 50-20 win at East Cleveland Shaw and again Friday in a 48-10 victory against Massillon Jackson. Junior quarterback Rocco Monastero engineered it by completing 15 of 17 passes for 273 yards and four TDs.
Rootstown’s Cody Coontz rushed for 242 yards and three TDs on 28 carries in the Rovers’ 25-22 win at Warren Champion.
The Tallmadge duo of Ty Hurst and Collin Dixon were at it again in a 45-6 win against Ellet. Dixon, a Wisconsin recruit, scored twice with 211 yards on six receptions. Hurst, a four-year starter at quarterback, continued his potent pace with 392 yards and five TDs on 11-of-18 passing.
Cleveland Glenville junior D'Shawntae Jones rushed for 230 yards and a TD on 28 carries in the Tarblooders’ 20-14 win at Olentangy Liberty.
Cleveland St. Ignatius junior Sean Martin scored three times in a 26-20 triple-overtime win vs. Mentor at FirstEnergy Stadium. A cornerback and running back, Martin even made his tying TD possible with an interception on defense to set up St. Ignatius’ final drive in regulation. Martin ended it, though, with a 20-yard run in the third overtime. He finished with 50 yards on four touches for the offense, while playing most of the game at cornerback.
Zach Olechnowicz of Richfield Revere scored the winning TD in the final minute of a 28-21 victory against Eastlake North and sealed it with an interception on the final play. He scored three TDs and rushed for 228 yards on 33 carries to deliver coach Bobby Nickol his first victory with the Minutemen. The offensive line in front of him — including Thomas Christman, Jefferson McKinnon, Stu Kelin, Jagraj Dhillon, Joe Sunkin, Aidan McKee, Donovan Farrow and Sam Li — combined to plow the way for 320 yards rushing and four TDs. Revere converted all three of its fourth-down attempts and didn’t give up a quarterback sack.
Friday night at Perry High, the powerful Kenston Bombers and Perry Pirates almost burned out the bulbs on the scoreboard. In winning 60-32, Perry led after one period, 24-14, 38-24 at the half, and 52-26 after three periods. For Kenston, Sean Patrick rushed for 71 yards on 10 carries for three scores, and caught six passes for 95 yards and two more scores.
Brayden Richards, a junior at Perry in Lake County, plays multiple roles for the Pirates. A starter at quarterback since his freshman year, his expanded role led to 356 all-purpose yards in the Pirates’ 60-32 win against Chagrin Falls Kenston. Richards scored four times with 70 yards receiving, 49 rushing (two TDs there), 176 yards in the return game and another 61 yards passing (with a hand in a fifth TD there). He also ran for a two-point conversion and threw another two-point conversion pass.
Newark hadn’t won since 2019’s season finale, a 41-30 victory against Franklin Heights. But the Wildcats snapped a 20-game losing streak with a wild 35-34 win at Mount Vernon. It was also Newark’s first road win since 2018. The Wildcats bolted ahead 28-7 in the 1st quarter as junior quarterback Steele Meister had a 4-yard TD run and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Austin Rose, who later in the quarter heaved a 50-yard scoring strike to senior Brayden Tosi on a trick play. Sophomore Drayson Peterson also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score.
The Yellow Jackets (1-1) reeled off 27 straight points to go up 34-28, as do-everything junior Jonny Askew (7 receptions, 92 yards; 9 rushes, 109 yards) caught 3 scoring passes from senior quarterback Joel Hubbard. But senior Max Durbin’s 4-yard 4th-quarter TD run and Hayden Reischman’s kick finally got Newark off the schneid.
Gibsonburg RB Connor Smith gained 195 yards on just 7 carries, including TD runs of 40, 5, 55, and 42 yards, and scored on a 23-yard reception in a 61-13 win at Elmore Woodmore.
For the second straight week, Sylvania Southview junior kicker Logan Howe was 10-for-10 on extra-point kicks, and in Friday's (Aug. 26) 72-0 win over Toledo Waite also added a 75-yard kickoff return TD. The Cougars topped Toledo Rogers 70-7 in Week 1.
Beverly Fort Frye senior Austin Powell had a huge day in a win over Bellaire on Saturday. He rushed six times for 222 yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 66, 86 and 38 yards. All told, the Cadets rushed for 460 yards and five touchdowns on 29 carries.
Antwerp started 2-0 for just the second time in the last 14 years with a 54-32 shootout win over Edon. Archer QB Carson Altimus had 414 total yards (230 passing/184 rushing) and six TDs, five on the ground, in the victory.
After allowing 339 rushing yards in a 31-0 loss to Liberty Center to start the season, Tinora’s defense clamped down in week two, holding Wauseon to negative-seven rushing yards in a 27-14 home victory. The Rams’ defense forced three interceptions and a lost fumble.
The Ayersville backfield duo of QB Blake Hauenstein and running back Owen Berner combined for 329 rushing yards and four touchdowns, rumbling for 174 and 155 yards, respectively, in the Pilots’ 41-21 victory over Delphos Jefferson.} Sheridan’s Reid Packer threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns and added 63 yards on the ground in a 27-24 loss to Watkins Memorial.
Coldwater quarterback Marcel Blasingame rushed for 228 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 215 yards and a touchdown in a 31-21 win over Bellefontaine.
Rockford Parkway’s Eddie Nichols had a school-record 99-yard touchdown run as part of a school-record 264-yard rushing performance in the Panthers’ 49-12 win over North Central.
Fort Recovery’s Troy Homan, moved into the quarterback spot due to injury, rushed for 156 yards and four touchdowns in the Indians’ 26-21 win over Urbana.
St. Henry had a streak of 23-consecutive games without allowing 30 or more points snapped — and Archbold extended its streak of games scoring 30 or more points to 14 — in the Blue Streaks’ 34-10 win over the Redskins.
Lebanon senior running back Braden Kay rushed 26 times for 282 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-39 loss to Milford.
Anderson senior quarterback Griffin Scalf was 23-30 passing for 466 yards and four touchdowns in their 42-0 win over Loveland.
Western Brown senior quarterback Drew Novak was 21-37 for 450 yards and four touchdowns and added 61 yards rushing for three scores in their 54-40 win over Washington Court House.
Senior receiver Tanner Skaggs of New Richmond had seven receptions for 124 yards and three touchdowns in their 42-20 win over Bethel-Tate.
Lakota West junior receiver Brennan Remy scored three touchdowns in their 49-6 win over Lakota East. He had two catches for 85 yards—both scores and ran for 68 yards, including a 55-yard run.
Wyoming senior running back C.J. Hester had 24 carries for 188 yards in a score in a 20-0 win over Taft.
Moeller junior running back Jordan Marshall ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns as the Crusaders defeated Louisville (KY) Trinty 28-3.
Division VI Kirtland defeated Division III Lutheran West, 21-0, limiting the Longhorns to 60 yards total offense. The win improves Coach Tiger LaVerde's career record at Kirtland to 201-18 (.919). In a Week 1 win over Division III Painesville Harvey, LaVerde won his 200th, becoming the fastest coach in Ohio history and the third-fastest in the nation to win his 200th game at one school. Kirtland senior linebacker Philip LaVerde recorded 19 tackles, including seven solo stops and three tackles for loss, and two quarterback sacks. With LaVerde leading the way, the Hornets limited the Longhorns to just 58 yards of offense and -7 in the second half.
Chardon senior cornerback Trey Leibhardt intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown and returning the other to the 2 to set up a Hilltopper touchdown in a 36-6 win over Camden, N.J., at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Liebhardt also scored on a 60-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Alex Henry. The win pushes Chardon's state-best winning streak to 30 games. The Hilltoppers host Naples (Fla.) First Baptist Academy on Saturday.
Elyria Catholic senior running back Levi Ellis gained 153 yards on 31 carries with the game-clinching 3-yard touchdown in ECs 14-6 upset win over Elyria. He also went 1-for-1 passing for 16 yards, completing a pop pass on 4th down with 2 minutes left to set up his TD.
Riverside junior quarterback Mikey Maloney completed 12-of-18 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for 93 yards and two more scores. With 299 yards of offense, Maloney led the Beavers to a 34-21 win over Aurora.
Sophomore quarterback Tyrell Lewis completed 14 of 20 for 298 yards and two touchdowns in Dayton Wayne's 53-7 victory over Reynoldsburg. Senior R.J. Mukes caught seven passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Waynesville senior quarterback Blaise Sizer completed 22 of 30 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-35 loss to Jamestown Greeneview.
Brookville senior Tim Davis rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries in Brookville's 46-14 victory over Anna.
West Liberty-Salem junior Gabe McGill rushed for 267 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries in a 42-41 victory over Ben Logan.
Dayton Northridge senior Jeremy Henry rushed for 248 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries in a 33-14 victory over Oakwood.
Greenfield McClain junior Andrew Potts led the Tigers in rushing with 175 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns. and also made a game-saving tackle on the final play of the game, a 36-35 McClain win over McDermott Northwest.
Bainbridge Paint Valley senior Cavan Cooper completed 14 passes for 238 yards with one touchdown, and also rushed for three touchdowns, totaling 50 yards on 14 carries, in the Bearcats' 49-34 loss to West Jefferson. Paint Valley sophomore Carson Free finished with nine receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown.
Wheelersburg senior quarterback Eli Jones rushed for four touchdowns as part of 15 carries and 134 yards, while also completing 3-of-6 passes for 33 yards in the Pirates' 42-35 overtime win at Cincinnati McNicholas.
Ironton's Tayden Carpenter completed 16-of-26 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns, Ty Perkins made eight receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and Trevor Carter collected 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in the Fighting Tigers' 29-26 come-from-behind victory at Jackson.
Portsmouth West junior Jeffery Bishop made three receptions for 112 yards including a 57-yard touchdown, rushed for a 7-yard touchdown, made an interception, had six tackles and 25 return yards in the Senators' 34-7 win at archrival Portsmouth.
Perkins quarterback Logan Lesch completed 26-of-38 passes for 470 yards and four passing TDs in a 42-41 overtime win over Elyria Catholic. Lesch also scored the go-ahead touchdown on the ground in overtime before Sam Sturzinger stuffed a 2-point conversion attempt to win the game. Four Pirates had at least 100 receiving yards (Braylon Collier, Jayden Rowe, Drake Venerucci, Weston Sturzinger) and running back Dom Zahel threw a 56-yard TD to Venerucci.
Port Clinton quarterback Cam Gillum ran 20 times for 158 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing a TD in PC’s 58-51 win at Rossford. It was the first varsity head coaching win for Eric Leuthold.
Sandusky’s Mo Armstrong carried 25 times for 173 yards and three TDs in a 40-13 win at Lorain.
Woodward junior quarterback Armoud Seals was 11-for-16 passing for 302 yards and two touchdowns plus ran for 105 yards and two more scores in their 54-12 win over Shroder.
Additional top performances from Southwest Ohio:Max Autry, Madeira, Sr, WR/DB – Carried the ball four times for 121 yards, had three receptions for 46 yards, found the end zone three times (two rush, one rec) and had two interceptions in the Mustangs 40-7 win over CHCA.
Talon Fisher, Fairfield, Jr, QB – Had eight carries for 156 yards, threw for 106 yards and had a touchdown rushing and one passing as the Indians knocked off Middletown, 42-14.
DJ Gray, Wyoming, Jr, RB/LB – Was in on six tackles, had a sack and returned a fumble 15-yards for a touchdown as the Cowboys shutout Taft, 20-0 and raised their regular season winning streak to 59-games.
Jay Holubetz, Kings, Sr, RB – Found the end zone three times in the game’s first 13-plus minutes and finished his night with 92 yards from scrimmage (62 rush, 30 rec) as the Knights trounced Turpin, 42-3.
Braden Kay, Lebanon, Sr, RB – Carried the ball 29 times for 289 yards and three touchdowns in a valiant effort as Warriors came up short against Milford, 42-39 despite running for 453 yards in the contest.
Jordan Marshall, Moeller, Jr, RB – Ran for 189 yards on 16 totes and had a pair of rushing touchdowns as the Crusaders bested Louisville Trinity (KY), 28-3.
AJ Metzger, New Richmond, Sr, QB – Threw for 340 yards and five touchdowns as the Lions beat Bethel-Tate, 42-20.
Mike Mulvihill, Blanchester, So, QB/LB – Amassed 305 yards of total offense (124 pass, 181 rush), accounted for four touchdowns (one pass, three rush), had five tackles and an interception as the Wildcats roared past Batavia, 42-13.
Drew Novak, Western Brown, Sr, QB – Accounted for seven touchdowns (four pass, three rush) while throwing for 450 yards and running for 61 yards as the Broncos beat Washington Court House, 54-40.
Brennan Remy, Lakota West, Jr, WR – Touched the ball six times on offense for 153 total yards from scrimmage with touchdown receptions of 42 and 43 yards and a scoring run of 55-yards in the Firebirds rout of rival Lakota East, 49-6.
Griffin Scalf, Anderson, Sr, QB – Went 22-30 for 466 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions as the Raptors shutout Loveland, 42-0.
Jahmeir Spain, Mount Healthy, So, QB – Threw for 251 yards, ran for 37 yards and accounted for four touchdowns (three pass, one rush) in the Owls 42-7 win over Ponitz.
Braden Sullivan, (Trenton) Edgewood, Jr, WR – Hauled in three receptions for 116 yards with two touchdown catches and also had 166 all-purpose yards as the Cougars edged Clinton-Massie, 27-20.
Ben Volkerding, Elder, Sr, LB – Was in on 12 total tackles, had two sacks and three tackles or losses as the Panthers held Pickerington Central to 110 yards of total offense in their 17-7 win. | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2022/08/30/area-players-recognized-as-opswa-releases-its-week-2-notebook/65463909007/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:43Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2022/08/30/area-players-recognized-as-opswa-releases-its-week-2-notebook/65463909007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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Leadership in Higher Education
A former college president and state attorney general considers leadership issues in higher education.
Title
Teaching Truth
The role for colleges.
To preserve our democracy, the time has come for American colleges and universities to center the concept of truth in undergraduate education.
Americans today are bombarded daily with inflated advertising claims, false statements from political leaders, television propaganda masquerading as news and misleading toxic sludge on social media. These powerful forces are chipping away at our shared sense of reality. This development has serious negative consequences for our democratic experiment in self-government, driving a wedge between polarized groups who no longer agree not just on values, but on the basic shape of empirical reality and acceptable forms of argument.
We see the results of this trend in denial of climate change, the baseless rejection of recent elections and the growth and popularity of bizarre conspiracy theories.
The academy has unintentionally contributed to this trend. Most college students are never exposed to a sophisticated and sustained examination of truth. The major exception: classes in social theory and literary studies that call into question the very possibility of truth itself. These approaches, grounded in Nietzsche and Marx, have undoubted merit. But unless they are accompanied by an examination of other truth traditions, from philosophy, science and mathematical logic, they give undergraduates a false sense that the “death of truth” is a foregone conclusion, representing a consensus, not a contested view. Students need to understand that truth norms in the Geisteswissenschaften may be radically different from, and irrelevant to, truth claims in other disciplines.
I am generally not in favor of “core curricula” or mandatory classes at the undergraduate level. We are all on our own unique intellectual journey. Students, in my view, should be encouraged to find their own path. As long as they take (or pass out of) a set of basic skills courses, to make sure they can read, research, write and calculate, I would give them wide freedom to choose what they study.
I believe, however, we must make an exception on the question of truth and require every student to take a basic course on the assessment of various types of truth claims. This course should be viewed, in part, as an essential part of individual human development. It would help students understand and assess questions of truth and interpretation in the remainder of their undergraduate coursework, provide a more sophisticated understanding of the realities of American social media and make them more discerning citizens and leaders after graduation.
But the value of this proposal is also social and collective, not merely individual, because a greater focus on truth is essential if we are to maintain our democracy. As Hannah Arendt once argued, a reverence for the truth is vital to the survival of democracies. “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule,” she observed, “is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist.”
Unfortunately, we are headed rapidly in that direction today. By failing to teach truth in a thoughtful and sophisticated way, we have abandoned the playing field to broadcast and social media, enabling a whole generation of students to think that truth is always purely subjective, a function of perspective, and that claiming something as “my truth” is an argument that cannot be refuted.
Helping citizens tell fact from fiction and truth from lies was challenging in Arendt’s day, in the new age of mass government propaganda, but it is infinitely more difficult today. Absent a major intervention by the higher education community, our nation’s sense of reality, and thus our grand experiment in rational self-government, could tumble.
This is also a vital matter of self-interest for the higher education community. The histories of Russia, Germany and China, among other nations, teach us that free universities can only exist in open, democratic societies. If we do not contribute to the preservation of democracy, we undercut our own existence. If you care about higher education, you have to care about teaching truth.
What would such a course look like? I can imagine a team-taught effort: a scientist sharing ideas about empirical verification and testability, a logician explaining logical truth, tautology and probability; a social scientist on the use and abuse of statistics; a historian on questions of perspective and the evaluation of the weight of evidence; a literary studies professor on interpretation. Students would be exposed to ideas of relativism and the social construction of truth, but those ideas would be placed into context. Students who spent a semester on these questions would emerge with a wiser, more grounded sense of the difference between truth and lies, facts and opinions. They would be better scholars, better citizens and, hopefully, help us construct a bridge to a more honest and thoughtful democratic future.
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- Public health backlash to Dr. Leana Wen talk on backlash | https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/leadership-higher-education/teaching-truth | 2022-08-30T18:53:52Z | insidehighered.com | control | https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/leadership-higher-education/teaching-truth | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(The Hill) – Seventy-one percent of Americans indicated support for labor unions in a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, the highest percentage since 1965.
The latest measure is a slight uptick from the 68 percent who supported labor unions when the survey giant polled the question last year.
Gallup has tracked union approval for decades, and support has gradually increased since 2009.
Support fell below 50 percent for the only time in 2009, but ever since has been improving to levels now not seen in more than a half century.
The increased support comes as workers at many major companies have pursued union campaigns.
A Starbucks store in Buffalo, N.Y., became the company’s first U.S. location to unionize in December, and more than 200 stores have since successfully held votes to join the union. Starbucks has battled many of those unionization efforts in court.
In April, workers at one of Amazon’s New York City facilities voted to become the first of the e-commerce giant’s U.S. locations to unionize.
Additionally, the first U.S. Chipotle store voted to unionize last Thursday in Lansing, Mich.
The new poll found that 6 percent of U.S. adults report that they are a union member, and 16 percent live in a household in which at least one resident is part of a union.
The results remain in line with Gallup’s range of between 14 percent and 21 percent of adults since 2001 who have said they live in a household with at least one union member.
President Biden has pledged to be the most pro-union president in history. He has hosted union leaders organizing at major companies and spoke at AFL-CIO’s convention in June.
“We’re seeing a resurgence of worker organizations and unionization,” Biden said earlier this month. “Where I come from, that’s a good thing, and it’s long overdue.”
The Gallup poll was conducted between Aug. 1 and 23 through a random phone sample of 1,006 U.S. adults. The sample is weighted to match national demographics, and the margin of error is 4 percentage points. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/support-for-labor-unions-highest-since-1965-poll-finds/ | 2022-08-30T18:53:53Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/support-for-labor-unions-highest-since-1965-poll-finds/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran sentenced two Swedish citizens to multiyear prison terms on charges of drug smuggling, the judiciary announced on Tuesday, the latest in a string of cases heightening tensions between the Islamic Republic and the Nordic nation.
Iran’s hard-line judiciary handed down a five-year sentence and fine of roughly $34,000 to Swedish national Simon Kasper Brown for allegedly trafficking 9.7 kilograms (about 22 pounds) of the banned pain medication Tramadol. Security forces scooped up Brown from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and confiscated his stash of the mild narcotic pills, said Masoud Setayeshi, the judiciary spokesman.
Tehran also sentenced Swedish citizen Stephen Kevin Gilbert to eight years in prison and ordered he pay a $500 fine. Gilbert was arrested at the airport in January 2020 for allegedly smuggling 9.8 kilograms of opium-based drugs into the country, the judiciary said.
Brown and Gilbert are the latest Swedes to land in Iranian prison as relations between the two countries deteriorate. Earlier this year, Iran jailed two Swedish visitors in separate incidents on widely criticized espionage charges. Another Swedish citizen, a respected 50-year-old doctor who Iran accuses of spying for Israel, faces the death penalty.
The cases come amid a landmark quest in Sweden to hold accountable a former Iranian official accused of committing atrocities has kindled outrage back in Tehran. A court in Stockholm sentenced Hamid Nouri to life imprisonment over his alleged war crimes, prompting Iran to recall its ambassador.
Iran has imprisoned at least a dozen dual nationals in recent years as Tehran negotiates for money and influence with the West. Most of them are held on disputed spying charges.
Iran’s law also stipulates harsh punishment for drug crimes. Those charged with drug possession, dealing or trafficking offenses make up some 73% of executions in the country. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-iran-sentences-2-swedes-to-prison-terms-over-drugs/ | 2022-08-30T18:56:12Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-iran-sentences-2-swedes-to-prison-terms-over-drugs/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 29 |
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran sentenced two Swedish citizens to multiyear prison terms on charges of drug smuggling, the judiciary announced on Tuesday, the latest in a string of cases heightening tensions between the Islamic Republic and the Nordic nation.
Iran’s hard-line judiciary handed down a five-year sentence and fine of roughly $34,000 to Swedish national Simon Kasper Brown for allegedly trafficking 9.7 kilograms (about 22 pounds) of the banned pain medication Tramadol. Security forces scooped up Brown from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and confiscated his stash of the mild narcotic pills, said Masoud Setayeshi, the judiciary spokesman.
Tehran also sentenced Swedish citizen Stephen Kevin Gilbert to eight years in prison and ordered he pay a $500 fine. Gilbert was arrested at the airport in January 2020 for allegedly smuggling 9.8 kilograms of opium-based drugs into the country, the judiciary said.
Brown and Gilbert are the latest Swedes to land in Iranian prison as relations between the two countries deteriorate. Earlier this year, Iran jailed two Swedish visitors in separate incidents on widely criticized espionage charges. Another Swedish citizen, a respected 50-year-old doctor who Iran accuses of spying for Israel, faces the death penalty.
The cases come amid a landmark quest in Sweden to hold accountable a former Iranian official accused of committing atrocities has kindled outrage back in Tehran. A court in Stockholm sentenced Hamid Nouri to life imprisonment over his alleged war crimes, prompting Iran to recall its ambassador.
Iran has imprisoned at least a dozen dual nationals in recent years as Tehran negotiates for money and influence with the West. Most of them are held on disputed spying charges.
Iran’s law also stipulates harsh punishment for drug crimes. Those charged with drug possession, dealing or trafficking offenses make up some 73% of executions in the country. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-iran-sentences-2-swedes-to-prison-terms-over-drugs/ | 2022-08-30T18:56:12Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-iran-sentences-2-swedes-to-prison-terms-over-drugs/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 29 |
Photos of the next member in Toyota’s new BZ family of electric vehicles have surfaced on the website of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The next member is a compact sedan called the BZ3, and it’s one of the 30 EVs spanning the Toyota and Lexus brands that were previewed last December in concept form. The concept previewing the BZ3 was called the BZ SDN.
The photos, which have been reposted by Autohome, show a handsome design clearly influenced by the 2023 BZ4X compact crossover, the first member of the BZ family. Like the BZ4X, the BZ3 features a visor-like front end and character lines that appear to be formed by geometric shapes.
The interior hasn’t been shown but is expected to match the BZ4X interior, meaning a digital instrument cluster and wide, landscape-oriented infotainment screen. A yoke-style steering wheel may also be offered as an alternative to the traditional steering wheel in China, as is the case with the BZ4X.
Information posted with the photos point to the BZ3 measuring approximately 186 inches in length, or a bit over an inch longer than a Tesla Model 3, and having a top speed of approximately 100 mph. Drive will come from a single electric motor at the rear axle, rated at either 181 or 240 hp. Specs for other markets will likely differ.
The platform is Toyota’s e-TNGA design, which features in the BZ4X and related Subaru Solterra and Lexus RZ models. The platform is Toyota’s first dedicated to EVs.
The BZ3 is due on sale in China in 2023. Availability in other markets is yet to be announced but if approved for U.S. sale, the BZ3 might arrive as a 2024 model.
Expect several more BZ models to be revealed in the near future. Toyota plans to have 15 zero-emission vehicles in its lineup by 2025, of which seven are confirmed to be members of the BZ family.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Wall says he considered taking his own life during a time in the last three years when he was dealing with a torn Achilles and the deaths of family members at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 31-year-old guard joined the Los Angeles Clippers this summer and is eager for a return to form this coming season. Wall has played just 40 games over the last three years because of injuries, COVID-19 and his former team, the Houston Rockets, not playing him before he joined the Clippers.
Wall discussed his recent past at a garden dedication earlier this month for his late mother at the Salvation Army in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he’s from. His mother had been a volunteer at the Wake County location.
“Darkest place I’ve ever been in,” Wall said. “At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide. I mean, just tearing my Achilles, my mom being sick, my mom passing, my grandma passed a year later, all this in the midst of COVID and at the same time, me going to chemotherapy, me sitting by my mom taking her last breaths wearing the same clothes for three days straight laying on the couch beside her.”
Wall’s mother, Frances Pulley, died in December 2019 at the age of 58 after struggling with breast cancer. His grandmother died later. At the same time, Wall was dealing with rehabbing his Achilles injury.
“We’re all going through times, nobody’s got it easy, but I don’t think a lot of people could get through what I went through,” Wall said. “And to me to get back on top where I want to be and seeing the fans still want me to play, having the support from my hometown, this important period means a lot. I went to find a therapist. A lot of people think, ‘I don’t need help, I can get through it at anytime,’ but you’ve got to be true to yourself and find out what’s best for you.”
Wall said he has a strong support system that includes his team and the mother of his two children. His sons also motivate him.
“I’m looking at all that and I’m like, ‘If I can get through this, I can get through anything in life,’” he said.
Lakers superstar LeBron James’ production company tweeted, “@John Wall we got your back. Always.” James then tweeted, “And I mean ALWAYS!!!!!! Don’t ever question it bro!! Proud of you @JohnWall.”
Wall said he’s happy to have a chance to play basketball again.
“You can tell I’m kind of smiling a lot more, all those types of things,” he said. “I get an opportunity to play with two great players and the sky’s the limit.”
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-john-wall-says-he-considered-suicide-during-struggles/ | 2022-08-30T18:58:25Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-john-wall-says-he-considered-suicide-during-struggles/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a visit focused on semiconductors, the critical chips that are used in everyday electronics and have become a battleground in the technology competition between the U.S. and China.
His visit is the latest in a recent string by U.S. politicians that have angered China, which claims the self-governing island off its coast as part of its territory and says the visits encourage Taiwan independence forces.
Ducey is on a mission to woo suppliers for the new $12 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) plant being built in his state. He is traveling with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and the head of the state’s economic development agency.
He will meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, business leaders and university representatives in the semiconductor industry, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The governor’s office said he will travel to South Korea and meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and business leaders later this week.
“The goal of this trade mission is to take these relationships to the next level – to strengthen them, expand them and ensure they remain mutually beneficial.”
American states are competing to attract a multibillion-dollar wave of investment in chip factories as the U.S. government steps up spending on expanding the U.S. semiconductor industry with a recently passed law. Last week, the Indiana governor visited Taiwan for a similar purpose.
Taiwan produces more than half the global supply of high-end processor chips.
U.S. officials worry that the United States relies too heavily on Taiwan and other Asian suppliers for processor chips used in smartphones, medical devices, cars and most other electronic devices.
Those worries have been aggravated by tensions with China over technology and security. The potential for disruption was highlighted by chip shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic that sent shockwaves through the auto and electronics industries.
Beijing fired missiles into the sea near the island starting on Aug. 4 after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited, disrupting shipping and air traffic, and highlighting the possibility that chip exports might be interrupted.
A law approved by Congress on July 29 promises more than $52 billion in grants and other aid to develop the U.S. semiconductor industry and a 25% tax credit for investors in chip factories in the United States.
State governments are now promising tax breaks and grants to lure chip factories they hope will become centers for high-tech industry.
Intel Corp., the only major U.S. producer, announced plans in March 2021 to build two chip factories in Arizona at a cost of $20 billion. The company has had another facility in Arizona since 1980.
In January, Intel announced plans to invest $20 billion in a chip factory in Ohio.
TSMC, headquartered in Taiwan and which makes chips for Apple Inc. and other customers, announced plans last year to invest $3.5 billion in its second U.S. manufacturing site on the northern outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona.
The company recently completed construction of the main buildings at the $12 billion north Phoenix facility and can now start moving in manufacturing equipment, with production expected to start by 2024, according to Ducey’s office. TSMC’s decision to build the facility has led other Taiwan-based suppliers to expand in Arizona, with investments totaling $1 billion already announced.
Ducey’s five-day trip to Taiwan and South Korea comes as the Republican governor prepares to leave office because of term limits in January. One of the former businessman’s major focuses in his eight years in office has been on boosting Arizona’s economy by adding to its manufacturing base. New electric vehicle companies have begun production, adding to its existing semiconductor firms.
South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions announced in April that it planned to invest $1.4 billion to build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility on land it purchased in the Phoenix suburb of Queen Creek. The company later said it would reassess its plans because of changing global economic conditions. Arizona development officials continue to work with LG.
U.S. semiconductor manufacturing has long been established in Arizona, and the state has more than 200 production facilities in addition to Intel and the new TSMC plant.
TSMC’s first U.S. semiconductor wafer fabrication facility is in Camas, Washington. It also operates design centers in San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics says it will break ground in 2024 for a $17 billion chip factory near Austin, Texas. The state says it is the biggest single investment to date in Texas.
___
McDonald reported from Beijing, China. Associated Press Reporter Bob Christie contributed from Phoenix. | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-arizona-governor-to-focus-on-semiconductors-in-taiwan-visit/ | 2022-08-30T18:58:38Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-arizona-governor-to-focus-on-semiconductors-in-taiwan-visit/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Stocks are down on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday, extending the market’s late August skid on investor worries that high interest rates aren’t going away any time soon as the Federal Reserve fights inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 1.3% as of 1:57 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is on pace to close lower for the third straight day and is down 3.6% for the month with one full trading day left in August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 337 points, or 1.1%, to 31,761 and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%.
Markets have been weaker since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated Friday that the central bank will stick to its strategy of raising interest rates to try and tame the hottest inflation in four decades.
A strong report on the job market Tuesday morning further diminished any hopes that the Fed would be able to ease up on its inflation-fighting policy. The higher rates the Fed is imposing are meant to keep inflation in check by slowing down the economy, including the pace of hiring.
The government reported that there were were 11.2 million open jobs on the last day of July. That’s near two jobs for every unemployed person, on average. That number was up from 11 million in June, and June’s figure was also revised sharply higher.
“Employers will have to increase their incentives to fill jobs, which could be inflationary,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “We’re not seeing numbers that are consistently offering encouragement.”
Another big data point on the jobs market will arrive Friday when the Labor Department issues its monthly employment report.
Wall Street is worried that the Fed could hit the brakes too hard on an already slowing economy and veer it into a recession. Higher interest rates also hurt investment prices, especially for pricier stocks.
The central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year and is expected to raise short-term rates by another 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting in September, according to CME Group.
Major indexes had gained ground in July and into early August on hopes that weaker economic data would prompt the Fed to ease up on its high-interest rate policy. Those gains followed a weak first half of the year where the S&P 500 dropped 20% from its most recent high and entered a bear market.
Investors have been closely watching economic data for any additional signs that the economy is slowing down or that inflation may be cooling or at least holding at its current level. Businesses and consumers have been hit hard by rising prices on everything from food to clothing, but recent declines in gasoline prices have provided some relief.
Consumers regained some confidence in August, according to a survey from The Conference Board. Its consumer confidence index rose this month after three straight monthly declines. It also rose well above what economists expected.
Technology stocks were a big weight on the market. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.8%. Energy stocks fell along with a 5.4% slide in U.S. crude oil prices. Chevron dropped 2.8%. Best Buy was a bright spot, gaining 1.7% after reporting results for its latest quarter that were much better than analysts were expecting.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.12% from 3.11% late Monday. | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-asian-stocks-after-wall-st-pullback-on-fed-inflation-stance/ | 2022-08-30T18:58:46Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-asian-stocks-after-wall-st-pullback-on-fed-inflation-stance/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BERLIN (AP) — Germany is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage due to Russia’s squeeze on European gas supplies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared Tuesday, even as fears grow about the rising prices that will hit consumers across the continent this winter.
He spoke at the start of a two-day government retreat, attended also by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which focused on the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on Europe’s energy supply.
Scholz cited Germany’s decisions to reactivate oil and coal-fired power plants, mandate the filling of natural gas storage facilities and lease floating liquefied natural gas terminals. A decision on extending the operating life of Germany’s three remaining nuclear power plants is also expected soon.
“All of this and many further measures have contributed to us being in a much better situation as far as supply security is concerned than could have been foreseen a couple of months ago,” Scholz told reporters at the government guest house in Meseberg, north of Berlin.
“We will be able to cope quite well with the threats that we face from Russia, which is using gas as part of its strategy in the war against Ukraine,” he said.
Scholz noted that gas storage facilities are already over 80% full, more than they were at this time last year, and the government is expected to agree on more measures shortly to help German consumers cope with steeply rising energy prices.
Russia’s state-controlled energy company Gazprom further reduced gas deliveries to the French company Engie, raising fears that Moscow might cut off gas completely as political leverage over the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom informed Engie of a reduction in gas deliveries, starting Tuesday, because of “a disagreement between the parties on the application of several contracts,” according to the French energy company. Deliveries for Engie from Gazprom have significantly decreased since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, with recent monthly supply of 1.5 TWh, which compares to Engie’s total annual supplies in Europe above 400 TWh, the company said.
Engie had already secured enough gas to meet its commitments to its customers, the statement said, adding that it has also put in place measures to “significantly reduce any direct financial and physical impact” that could result from Gazprom’s interruption in gas supplies.
Russia has cut off or reduced natural gas to a dozen European Union countries. Since spring, EU leaders have been appealing to the public to use less gas over the summer to build storage for winter. The bloc has proposed that nations voluntary cut their use by 15%. It’s also seeking the power to impose mandatory cuts across the 27-nation bloc if there is risk of severe gas shortage.
France, like other European countries, is trying to beef up its gas reserves for winter and fill up its storage by early autumn to avert an economic and political crisis over energy. The French government rolled out an “energy sobriety” plan in June, targeting a 10% reduction in energy use by 2024.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday urged businesses to make energy saving plans, warning that companies would be hit first should the government be forced into rationing gas and electricity because of severe shortages.
In an effort to wean themselves off Russian gas and reduce the climate impact of the energy sector, European countries have significantly ramped up efforts to build wind, solar and other renewable energies.
Seven Baltic Sea countries — Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark — announced Tuesday a seven-fold increase of wind power production by 2030 in northern Europe as a way to free the region from its dependence on Russian natural gas.
The countries agree to set combined goals for offshore wind in the Baltic Sea region of at least 19.6 GW by 2030. The present capacity of the Baltic Sea region is currently under 3 gigawatts. Under the plan, up to 1,700 new offshore wind turbines would produce power equivalent to almost 20 nuclear power plants, providing enough electricity for up to 30 million households.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is using energy as a weapon and has put Europe on the brink of an energy crisis with skyrocketing prices,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the new plan also will allow the countries “to have more affordable energy prices” while her Latvian counterpart, Arturs Krisjanis Karins, said “this can be done if we’re working together.”
“That is amazing. Up to 20 gigawatt by 2030,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said during the one-day Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Copenhagen. “It is already one-third of the overall EU ambition for offshore wind capacity by 2030.”
The energy crisis has prompted some European countries to call for previously shelved energy projects to be revived, such as a gas pipeline linking the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe.
___
Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France, and Jan M. Olsen from Copenhagen, Denmark. Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin. | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-germany-upbeat-on-energy-security-russia-cuts-gas-to-france/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:00Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-germany-upbeat-on-energy-security-russia-cuts-gas-to-france/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — When you build a powerhouse program, it’s inevitable that others will try to copy your success.
That means hiring people who work for you.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart will see another familiar face on the opposing sideline Saturday when the reigning national champion Bulldogs open the season against No. 11 Oregon.
Smart’s former defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning, is now guiding the Ducks. In his head coaching debut, he’ll take on the No. 3 Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta.
“There’s definitely some feelings of excitement for me to go play a team I care about and was a big part of for a long time,” Lanning said. “But that’s not the focus. My job, as well as the players’ job, is to focus on the task at hand.”
As Smart heads into his seventh season as the Bulldogs’ boss, the list of assistants-turned-head coaches is growing.
He is 2-0 against his ex-offensive line coach, Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, and last year beat South Carolina’s Shame Beamer, who was on Smart’s staff in 2016 and ’17.
Now, the 36-year-old Lanning will become the third of Smart’s former staffers to take a shot at knocking off the old boss.
There won’t be a bunch of warm, fuzzy feelings at the reunion.
“I don’t think the game has anything to do with that,” Smart said. “Neither Dan nor I will be worried about each other during the game.”
The opener, which will be played before what figures to be a very pro-Georgia crowd at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will be an early indicator of where both programs stand.
Georgia is looking to make another run at the national championship despite losing a record 15 players in the NFL draft — five of them first-rounders off a stellar defensive unit that carried the Bulldogs to their first title since 1980.
With the Pac-12 in turmoil and speculation that they could soon be headed to the Big Ten, the Ducks hope to build on the success they had during Mario Cristobal’s four-year tenure, which featured a pair of conference championships.
When Cristobal left for Miami, the Ducks quickly turned to Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator.
They made a good choice, according to Smart, whose relationship with Lanning goes back to 2015 when both were on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama.
“I had a great relationship with Dan when he worked at University of Alabama, and had a lot of respect for how he went about doing his job,” Smart said. “He didn’t try to be somebody he wasn’t. He didn’t try to impress people. He just worked and he grinded, and he really did a good job of just doing what you asked him to do. I always thought he would be successful.”
When Smart left for his first head coaching job at Georgia in 2016, he kept an eye on Lanning. The Bulldogs had an opening on their staff two years later and hired him as the outside linebackers coach.
“It ended up being a no-brainer for us to bring Danny in because I knew the value he had,” Smart recalled.
Lanning was promoted to co-defensive coordinator a year later after Mel Tucker left for Colorado, receiving much of the credit for building one of college football’s greatest defenses.
“I knew he was going to do a great job,” Smart said.
Lanning’s co-coordinator, Glenn Schumann, is still at Georgia. He’ll continue in that role along with former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp.
Smart said it’s been a smooth transition, especially because Muschamp was already on the staff as special teams coordinator.
“Dan would be the first to tell you he never would’ve had the success he had here if not for Glenn Schumann,” Smart said. “I felt comfortable Glenn would be able to take it over along with Will. It’s great when we have two guys that know the system and two guys that can share that responsibility.”
Before he even coached a game, Lanning had to deal with tragedy within his new team.
Tight end and social media star Spencer Webb died last month in an accidental fall at a popular swimming lake. The Ducks will wear a special decal on their helmets this season featuring Webb’s No. 4 inside a spider web.
“Our team has a void,” Lanning said. “It’s something you certainly cannot replace. I’ve talked to our players about that moment and Spencer, how on your tombstone there’s a day you were born and a day when you passed, but what made Spencer special was how he lived that dash in between those two numbers.”
In addition to an entirely new coaching staff, the Ducks have a bunch of newcomers on their roster. They brought in 21 players through the transfer portal, 15 of them from Power Five schools.
Lanning has plenty of familiarity with Georgia’s defense.
Of course, that works both ways.
“Kirby Smart is not going to play a single snap on Saturday, and neither is Dan Lanning,” the Oregon coach said. “It doesn’t really matter what I know. It’s what my players know and how well they can execute.”
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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-ugas-smart-faces-former-assistant-lanning-in-season-opener/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:00Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-ugas-smart-faces-former-assistant-lanning-in-season-opener/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Unvaccinated NBA players and team personnel must submit to weekly COVID-19 testing this season, the league told its clubs in a memo Tuesday.
There will be certain exceptions to that mandate, the league said, such as when the unvaccinated person is considered to have been “recently recovered” from COVID-19.
But for all others, testing will not be required except when “directed by their team physician or a league physician or government authority,” the league said. Facemasks also will not be required, though they will be recommended for use indoors in markets where coronavirus levels are classified by government officials as high.
The policy for the coming season — agreed to by the National Basketball Players Association — has been developed over the last several weeks and is consistent with what Commissioner Adam Silver said last month he would expect.
“It looks like we’ll be on our normal track in terms of when the season starts, in terms of our protocols around the game, particularly around the health and safety of our players,” Silver said at the league’s Board of Governors meeting in mid-July. “I have learned over the last 2 1/2 years not to make any predictions when it comes to COVID, but only to say we’ll be prepared for anything that comes our way.”
The overwhelming majority of NBA players and team personnel were vaccinated last season, and the league said it is strongly recommending that those people remain up-to-date with their vaccination status. That means not only having received all doses in the initial series of vaccinations but also all boosters that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
All players and team personnel will be required to get tested when exhibiting any symptoms, plus they will be required to report those symptoms, as well as any positive or inconclusive results of tests not administered by the team or the league. Players and personnel will also have to report when someone in their household tests positive for COVID-19.
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-unvaccinated-nba-players-staff-must-test-weekly-for-covid/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:07Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-unvaccinated-nba-players-staff-must-test-weekly-for-covid/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TOKYO (AP) — Kazuo Inamori, founder of Japanese ceramics and electronics maker Kyocera who also became a philanthropist singing the virtues of fairness and hard work, has died. He was 90.
Inamori, who also founded major telecommunications company KDDI Corp., died Aug. 24 of natural causes at his home in Kyoto, Kyocera said Tuesday.
Inamori established Kyocera as an insulator manufacturing company in 1959, with a 3 million yen ($22,000) investment from his acquaintances.
While struggling to build his company, Inamori came up with his philosophy of management that emphasized people, doing the right thing and what he called “corporate character,” the old-style Japanese equivalent of professionalism and ethical standards.
His thoughts, which were pioneering for modernizing Japan, were based on the idea that workers and companies must be motivated by pure intentions, not by greed, and ultimately the desire to serve society.
His ideas spanned principles about fair competition, the proper pursuit of profit and the need for managerial transparency, as well as about living a virtuous life as an individual, for which he listed six principles: diligence, humility, reflection, gratitude, benevolence and detachment.
“Superiors who seem to agree with their subordinates in all matters may appear to be loving bosses, but they are actually spoiling and ruining their employees,” he once wrote.
“True love requires that we rigorously seek to discern what is indeed best for others.”
In the 1980s, Inamori set up a school called Seiwajyuku to teach his management philosophy in more than 100 locations, about half abroad, which claims to have taught about 15,000 business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide.
Inamori also oversaw the revival from bankruptcy of Japan’s major carrier Japan Airlines, or JAL, in 2010, serving as a board member.
In 1984, Inamori established his nonprofit called the Inamori Foundation, which awarded the Kyoto Prize every year to recognize humanitarian contributions around the world.
Inamori noted that all living things, including flowers and animals, merely want to survive, and the human being is no different. To do well, you must love the work you do, he said many times, so you end up working harder than anyone else.
A private funeral was held with his family. Inamori is survived by his wife Asako and three daughters. A formal farewell service may be held later but details aren’t decided, Kyocera said.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-japanese-business-pioneer-philanthropist-inamori-dies-at-90/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:07Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-japanese-business-pioneer-philanthropist-inamori-dies-at-90/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
by: Tammy Jones Posted: Aug 30, 2022 / 01:19 PM EDT Updated: Aug 30, 2022 / 01:19 PM EDT SHARE They may have moved locations but they are still rocking the style. We are talking about Rockerbelles and Ashton Reid is here to tell us more. www.rockerbelles.com | https://www.wspa.com/your-carolina/fashion-trend-tuesday-rock-your-styles-with-rockerbelles-2/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:40Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/your-carolina/fashion-trend-tuesday-rock-your-styles-with-rockerbelles-2/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
by: Tammy Jones Posted: Aug 30, 2022 / 01:21 PM EDT Updated: Aug 30, 2022 / 01:21 PM EDT SHARE St. Patty’s Day might seem far away, but it is time to start preparing to celebrate. We have Christopher Smith and Patrick Regan here to tell you how one golf tournament is helping you get in the spirit early. | https://www.wspa.com/your-carolina/halfway-to-st-patricks-day-golf-tournament-afterparty/ | 2022-08-30T18:59:47Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/your-carolina/halfway-to-st-patricks-day-golf-tournament-afterparty/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say they have picked up a group of 30 people from a wooden boat that had lost steering and was drifting close to the rocky coast of a small islet north of Crete, in the latest case of boats carrying migrants running into trouble in southern Greece.
The coast guard said Tuesday they had received a distress call on Monday from the boat while it was sailing between Crete and the small island of Antikythera. The wooden motorboat was eventually located near the uninhabited islet of Gramvousa, just off the northwestern tip of Crete.
The 30 people on board, who included nine minors and four women, were transported to Crete, the coast guard said. There was no immediate information on their nationalities.
It was the latest of several migrant boats that have run into trouble and ended up on southern Greek islands in recent days. Over the weekend, the coast guard announced it had picked up 69 people on Friday from a sailboat that was drifting and had sent out a distress signal 26 nautical miles (30 miles, 48 kilometers) southwest of the Ionian island of Zakythnos.
The boat had set sail from the Turkish coast near Izmir on Aug. 22 and had been heading to Italy when it ran into trouble, the coast guard said.
The 69 — 61 people from Iran, two from Afghanistan and six from Turkey — were rescued by a passing cargo ship and taken to the southern mainland coast of Kalamata on Saturday, the coast guard said. The six Turks were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
Earlier this month, about 240 people arrived on the southern island of Kythera on three sailboats that had also set sail from Turkey and had been aiming directly for Italy.
For years, the preferred route for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa was the much shorter sea route from Turkey to nearby Greek islands in the eastern Aegean.
But with Greek authorities increasing patrols in the area and facing persistent reports of pushbacks — summary and illegal deportations of new arrivals back to Turkey without allowing them to apply for asylum — more people are attempting to circumvent Greece and head directly to Italy.
Greece denies it carries out pushbacks, but insists it robustly protects its borders.
“No new tactic by smugglers and no new maneuver by Turkey will change our stance,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a speech at the start of a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, where he also touched on migration.
“We save the innocent, we protect our borders, and the other side should look at its own unguarded borders,” he said.
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Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-greece-30-migrants-picked-up-from-islet-off-crete/ | 2022-08-30T19:01:05Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-greece-30-migrants-picked-up-from-islet-off-crete/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Several Israelis were wounded overnight after they entered the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus and came under fire, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
The Israelis appeared to be headed on their own to a flashpoint shrine in the city, where visits are usually coordinated with the military under tight security precautions.
After they came under fire, troops entered the city, which is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and its security forces, to evacuate the Israelis, the military said. Israelis are prohibited from entering the Palestinian-controlled areas, although some still do.
The military later said forces were exchanging fire with armed Palestinians in the city. It was not immediately clear if the events were connected.
Israel has been conducting near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank since March, driving up tensions in the area.
The raids were launched after a spate of deadly attacks against Israelis that killed 19 people. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, many of them militants or people involved in clashes with Israeli forces, the military says. But civilians have also been killed.
Some Jews believe the biblical Joseph is buried in the Nablus tomb, while Muslims say a sheikh is buried there. The army escorts Jewish worshippers to the site, known to Jews as Joseph’s Tomb, several times a year, in coordination with Palestinian security forces.
As Israeli-Palestinian violence has flared this year, the site has again become a flashpoint. In April, some 100 Palestinians marched toward Joseph’s Tomb and set it ablaze before they were dispersed by Palestinian security forces. Images on social media showed parts of the tomb inside the shrine smashed and charred.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said forces escorting Jewish worshippers to the shrine came under fire and then shot back. An 18-year-old Palestinian man was killed in the violence. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-israelis-shot-and-wounded-after-entering-west-bank-city/ | 2022-08-30T19:01:27Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-israelis-shot-and-wounded-after-entering-west-bank-city/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Tuesday wrapped up two days of closed-door meetings with about 180 cardinals, many of them young enough to elect a future pontiff, including discussions about how the Catholic Church’s governance could be made more inclusive.
The sessions focused on a new Apostolic constitution that, among other things, allows lay people to head important Vatican offices, envisioning greater decision-making roles for them, including women.
But since the church has closed the door to women in the priesthood, the most prestigious, and ultimately most powerful roles — including that of a pontiff — remain the realm of men.
The reforms also lend more institutional weight to efforts to fight clerical sex abuse. The document, made public earlier this year, replaced the constitution written by St. John Paul II in 1988.
Francis on Saturday raised 20 churchmen to the rank of cardinal, including 16 younger than 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect his successor, when the time comes.
Until Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in almost 600 years to do so, conclaves in recent centuries had followed the death of popes. Francis, who is 85, has said that resignation can be a valid option for pontiffs who can’t adequately carry out their role as leader of the world’s more than 1.3 billion Catholics.
But he has brushed off talk that he is contemplating stepping down soon despite health problems, including a bad knee that necessitates frequent wheelchair use.
In his homily at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to close out the meetings, Francis offered no details about this week’s discussions. But he exhorted the cardinals, known as the “princes of the church,” to be on guard against the “cancer, the woodworm, of worldly spirituality.”
While in Rome these days, cardinals from around the world could size each other up. Encounters, including informal ones, allow them to see who might have the potential to become a future pope as well as to ponder possible alliances among geographical groupings or among like-minded churchmen from more conservative or more progressive factions.
The Vatican said among themes discussed were the role of lay persons, financial transparency, the managerial structure of the Vatican bureaucracy as well as how to “announce the Gospel in an epoch like the current one.”
Francis has worked to reform the Holy See’s finances, including its multimillion-dollar investments, one of which is at the heart of a trial underway at the Holy See and involving, among others, a Vatican cardinal.
Francis has tried to make the church more inviting to those who might feel unwelcome, including LGBTQ Catholics, or undervalued, including women.
On Monday, a half-dozen female activists protested as cardinals, with their iconic red headgear, flocked to the meeting on Vatican grounds. The women held up red parasols with slogans reading, “Sexism is a Cardinal Sin.” Other slogans were: “It’s reigning men” and “Ordain Women.”
One protester, Miriam Duignan, lamented that the cardinals were “going to talk about the future of the church without half of the church.”
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Sabrina Sergi contributed to this report. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-pope-meets-with-cardinals-on-future-direction-of-church/ | 2022-08-30T19:01:42Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-pope-meets-with-cardinals-on-future-direction-of-church/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LTG Ronald J. Place, DHA Director, congratulates Chris Hudson after the DHA Employee Recognition Ceremony on Monday, Aug. 29. DHA holds quarterly recognition ceremonies to honor DHA employees across the enterprise for their dedication to the DHA mission: Unified. Ready. Reliable.
This work, DHA Recognizes Employees During Recognition Ceremony [Image 12 of 12], by Robbie Hammer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394606/dha-recognizes-employees-during-recognition-ceremony | 2022-08-30T19:01:45Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394606/dha-recognizes-employees-during-recognition-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CSM Isaac A. Bray, Senior Enlisted Leader, DHA Director of Staff, congratulates, YN2 Malcom C. Jackson at the DHA Employee Recognition Ceremony on Monday, Aug. 29. DHA holds quarterly recognition ceremonies to honor DHA employees across the enterprise for their dedication to the DHA mission: Unified. Ready. Reliable.
This work, DHA Recognizes Employees During Recognition Ceremony [Image 12 of 12], by Robbie Hammer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394609/dha-recognizes-employees-during-recognition-ceremony | 2022-08-30T19:02:04Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394609/dha-recognizes-employees-during-recognition-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
PRAGUE (AP) — Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren expressed concern Tuesday about gun violence in the United States in the aftermath of a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded.
“We do many trainings of our servicemen in the United States, and we really don’t expect this to happen. So it’s very, very concerning for us.” Ollongren told The Associated Press at a meeting of European Union defense ministers in Prague.
A 26-year-old member of the Dutch Commando Corps, identified by U.S. authorities as Simmie Poetsema, died of his injuries “surrounded by family and colleagues,” the Dutch Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday.
Poetsema and the two other soldiers were shot after what Indianapolis police believe was a disturbance outside the hotel where they were staying about 3:30 a.m. Saturday near several downtown bars and nightclubs, authorities said. The soldiers were in the U.S. for training exercises at a southern Indiana military base.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said Monday that the soldiers had returned to the hotel after a “scuffle” at a bar and were outside when the gunfire came from what he called “a drive-by shooting.”
Indianapolis police declined to confirm Hogsett’s account Tuesday or release more information on the circumstances or the investigation of the shooting. No arrests have been announced.
Ollongren declined to comment on the shooting while investigations continue. She said there is “good contact” between Dutch military police and authorities in Indianapolis.
“We have read things in the media, we have heard what the mayor said but we feel it’s very important to have a real thorough investigation. So we’re waiting for that until we comment on what actually happened,” she said.
Ollongren said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin contacted her Monday “to express his regrets and his condolences.”
Hogsett said he believed the city’s downtown area was safe and that city officials were working to reduce violence.
“Too often, not just in Indianapolis, conflict resolution has become just people pulling out guns and shooting each other,” Hogsett said. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-national-news/ap-dutch-defense-minister-concerned-about-us-gun-violence/ | 2022-08-30T19:02:31Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-national-news/ap-dutch-defense-minister-concerned-about-us-gun-violence/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MONROE, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms that brought damaging winds, heavy rains and flash flooding to parts of the Midwest and the South were blamed for the deaths of three people, including two children in Michigan and Arkansas as well as a woman in Ohio.
Monday’s storms also knocked out electrical service to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Indiana and Michigan, with dozens of schools canceling classes in Michigan alone on Tuesday because of power outages.
In the Michigan city of Monroe, a 14-year-old girl was electrocuted Monday night in the backyard of her home after coming into contact with an electrical line that was knocked down by a thunderstorm, the public safety department said in a Facebook post.
The girl was with a friend and she reached for what she believed was a stick, but it turned out to be the power line, the department said.
And in the Detroit-area community of Warren, two boys were hospitalized — including an 8-year-old who was in critical condition — after one of them touched a downed power line Tuesday morning, The Detroit News reported, citing a fire department official.
In Arkansas, an 11-year-old boy died after he was swept into a storm drain during heavy rainfall Monday, authorities said.
A 47-year-old woman who tried to help the child was also pulled from the drain and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to police in Bentonville. Slow-moving thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall to the area Monday and caused localized flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.
“Those heavy rains, when they fell, a lot of them fell really quickly and in a short time,” said meteorologist Brad McGavock with the weather service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which covers parts of Arkansas. “Water management through those storm drains can really lead to a big volume of water through those culverts.”
In Ohio, a woman was killed Monday night when a tree fell on her behind her home in Toledo just as a strong storm moved through the area, the city’s fire department said. Her name and age were not released.
The storms were widespread in states including Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Tree branches and power lines fell while winds gusted as high as 58 mph (93 kilometers per hour) at Battle Creek Executive Airport in Michigan and 60 mph (96 kilometers per hour) in Huntington, Indiana, the weather service reported.
On Monday night, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said that he was declaring a state of emergency after excessive rainfall exacerbated problems in one of Jackson’s water-treatment plants and caused low water pressure through much of the capital city. A swollen Pearl River caused flooding in Jackson on Monday, days after storms dumped heavy rain.
The Mississippi flooding was less severe than flooding that caused death and destruction in Kentucky last month. Those floods left at least 39 dead and robbed thousands of families of all of their possessions. Nearly a month later, residents are wrestling with whether to rebuild at the place they call home or to start over somewhere else. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-national-news/ap-storms-blamed-in-deaths-of-2-children-in-michigan-arkansas/ | 2022-08-30T19:03:01Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-national-news/ap-storms-blamed-in-deaths-of-2-children-in-michigan-arkansas/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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Manta, Ecuador - (Aug. 15, 2022) — Engineman 2nd Class Lakeisha White conducts a generator repair after securing from an outbound sea and anchor detail from Manta, Ecuador, aboard the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Billings (LCS 15), Aug. 15, 2022. Billings is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mineman 2nd Class Justin Hovarter/Released)
This work, USS Billings Departs Manta, Ecuador [Image 4 of 4], must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394663/uss-billings-departs-manta-ecuador | 2022-08-30T19:03:12Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7394663/uss-billings-departs-manta-ecuador | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in three years, the fall movie industrial complex is lurching back into high gear. Festival red carpets are rolled out. Oscar campaigns are primed. Long-awaited blockbusters, like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” are poised for big box office.
But after the tumult of the pandemic, can the fall movie season just go back to way it was? Many are hoping it can. After two springtime editions, the Academy Awards have returned to a more traditional early March date. The Golden Globes, after near-cancellation, are plotting a comeback. Some movies, too, are trying to recapture a before-times spirit. At the Toronto Film Festival in September, Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” has booked the same theater “Knives Out” premiered to a packed house almost exactly three years ago.
“Seems like yesterday,” Johnson says, laughing. “OK, a few things have happened.”
After an all-but-wiped-out 2020 autumn and a 2021 season hobbled by the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants, this fall could, maybe, just maybe be something more like the normal annual cultural revival that happens every fall, when most of the year’s best movies arrive.
“We’re all, I think, just trying to will it into existence as at least some version of what we knew before,” says Johnson. “As with everything, you kind of just have to dive into the pool and see what the water’s like. I’m really hoping that at least the illusion of normalcy holds. I guess that’s all normalcy is.”
But “Glass Onion,” with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc in a new mystery, is also a reminder of how much has changed. After “Knives Out” was a box-office hit for Lionsgate, grossing $311 million worldwide for Lionsgate, Netflix shelled out $450 million to snap up the rights to two sequels. And while exhibitors and the streaming company discussed a larger theatrical release for “Glass Onion” — a surefire hit if it did — a more modest rollout in theaters is expected before the films lands Dec. 23 on Netflix.
The balance between theatrical and streaming remains unsettled. But after a summer box-office revival and an evolving outlook for streaming by Wall Street, theatrical moviegoing — with its billions in annual ticket sales and cultural footprint — is looking pretty good. For the first time in years, moviegoing has a strong wind at its back. Or at least it did until an especially slow August sapped momentum due largely to a dearth of new wide releases.
“If you look at how many movies we had compared to what business we did, we were operating at 2019 levels,” says John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. “We had 70% of the supply of wide-release movies in the first seven months and we did 71% of the business we did in the same period in 2019. Moviegoers are back in pre-pandemic numbers, it’s just we still need more movies.”
That will be less of an issue as the fall season ramps up. “Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 11) and “The Way of the Water” (Dec. 16) may each vie with the summer smash “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.36 billion worldwide and still counting) for the year’s top film. Less clear, though, is if the fall’s robust slate of adult-driven films and Oscar contenders can once again drive moviegoing. Last year’s best-picture winner, “CODA,” from Apple TV+, ran the awards gauntlet without a cent of box office.
Among the most anticipated films hitting the fall festival circuit and theaters are Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” (Nov. 23); “Blonde” (Sept. 23), starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe; Todd Fields’ “TÁR” (Oct. 7), with Cate Blanchett; Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” (Dec. 9); “The Son” (Nov. 11), Florian Zeller’s follow-up to “The Father”; Chinonye Chukwu’s Emmett Till saga “Till” (Oct. 14); Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Oct. 21); James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” (Oct. 28); and the Cannes Palme d’Or winner “The Triangle of Sadness” (Oct. 7).
Superhero films (“Black Adam,” Oct. 21, starring Dwayne Johnson), kids movies (“Lyle Lyle Crocodile,” Oct. 7), horror flicks (“Halloween Ends,” Oct. 14) rom-coms (“Ticket to Paradise,” Oct. 21, with Julia Roberts and George Clooney) and more high-flying adventures (“Devotion,” Nov. 23) will also mix in, as will prominent titles from streamers. Those include Amazon’s “My Policeman” (Oct. 21), with Harry Styles; and Netflix releases “Bardo” (in theaters Nov. 4), by Alejandro González Iñárritu; “White Noise” (in theaters Nov. 25) by Noah Baumbach; and Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” (streaming Dec. 9).
But if much of the fall movie season is about restoring what was lost the last few years, for some upcoming movies, change is the point. “Woman King” (Sept. 16), directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood and starring Viola Davis, is muscular fact-based epic about a West African army of female warriors. To Prince-Blythewood, the filmmaker of “Love & Basketball” and “The Old Guard,” “Woman King” represents “the chance to reframe what it means to be female and feminine.”
“I don’t think we have ever seen a movie like this before. So much of our history has been hidden or ignored or erased,” says Blythewood. “‘Braveheart,’ ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Last of the Mohicans.’ I love those movies. Now, here was our chance to tell our story in this genre.”
“Bros” (Sept. 30), too, is something different. The film, starring and co-written by “Billy on the Street” comedian Billy Eichner, is the first gay rom-com by a major studio (Universal). All of its principal cast members are LGBTQ. Comedies have struggled in theaters in recent years but “Bros,” produced by Judd Apatow, hopes a new perspective will enliven a familiar genre.
“It’s a historic movie in many ways,” says Eichner. “That’s not something we thought about when we were first developing it. Nobody sits down and says, ‘Let’s write a historic movie.’ We said, ‘Let’s make a hilarious movie.’ It will make people laugh but it’s unlike anything the vast majority of people have seen.”
“Bros” and “Woman King” are productions meant to challenge the status quo of Hollywood. That’s also part of the nature of “She Said” (Nov. 18), a dramatization of New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s investigation into movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” (Dec. 2) likewise chronicles a real-life female uprising. It’s based on events from 2009, when Bolivian Mennonite women gathered together after having been drugged and raped by the men in their colony.
Olivia Wilde’s buzzed-about “Don’t Worry Darling,” starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as a married couple living in a 1950s-style suburban nightmare-slash-male fantasy, approaches some similar themes through a science-fiction lens.
“I want to make something that is just really entertaining and fun and interesting, but actually is my way of provoking conversations about real issues like body autonomy,” says Wilde. “I didn’t know it would be as timely as it is right now. Never in my wildest nightmares did I believe Roe would have been overturned right before the release of this film.”
Other movie production timelines seem to exist almost apart from our earthly reality. James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of the Water” will debut 13 years after 2009’s “Avatar” (still the highest grossing film ever), a follow-up originally scheduled for release in 2014. Since then, so many dates have come and gone that the sequels — four films are now slated to launch in the next five years — have sometimes seemed like blockbuster Godots that might forever wait in the wings.
Speaking from the New Zealand where “The Way of the Water” was being mixed and scored, producer Jon Landau promised the wait is, in fact, nearly over.
“This is finally happening,” said Landau. “Those delays, as you would call them, were really about us creating a foundation for a saga of movies. It wasn’t about going: ‘Let’s get one script right.’ It was about: ‘Let’s get four scripts right.’”
Measuring the change in the movie industry is even harder when it comes to the span in between “Avatar” installments. When the first “Avatar” was in theaters, 3-D was being billed (again) as the future. Barack Obama was in the first year of his first term. Netflix was renting DVDs by mail.
“A lot has changed but a lot hasn’t,” says Landau. “One of the things that has not changed is: Why do people turn to entertainment today? Just like they did when the first ‘Avatar’ was released, they do it to escape, to escape the world in which we live.”
___
AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP | https://www.wwlp.com/news/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-fall-preview-is-it-maybe-back-to-normal-at-the-movies/ | 2022-08-30T19:03:30Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-fall-preview-is-it-maybe-back-to-normal-at-the-movies/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portuguese Health Minister Marta Temido quit Tuesday, saying she felt “no longer able to remain in office” after broad criticism over her handling of recent staffing problems at public hospitals.
Temido, a 48-year-old expert in hospital administration and Portugal’s health minister since 2018, was one of the most popular members of the center-left Socialist government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But she has been under severe pressure for several months, including from inside her Socialist Party, due to temporary closures of public hospital emergency services, including in maternity departments, due to a lack of staff.
Critics blamed the problems on a lack of planning by the health ministry, especially during the summer vacation period, in what became an embarrassment for the government.
Groups representing Portuguese doctors and nurses have also been critical of Temido’s policies.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s office announced Temido’s resignation in a brief statement at 1.30 a.m.
It said the government would push ahead with reforms to strengthen the national health service but gave no indication about Temido’s replacement. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/ap-health/ap-portugals-health-chief-quits-amid-hospital-staff-shortages/ | 2022-08-30T19:04:12Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/ap-health/ap-portugals-health-chief-quits-amid-hospital-staff-shortages/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Any federal student loans used to attend the for-profit Westwood College from 2002 through 2015 will be canceled after federal officials found that the school greatly exaggerated the job prospects of its graduates, the Biden administration announced Tuesday.
The action will automatically erase $1.5 billion in federal student debt for 79,000 borrowers who attended the now-defunct college, according to the Education Department.
It adds to the administration’s mounting effort to cancel federal loans for students who were defrauded by their colleges — more than $14 billion has been erased so far — and it follows President Joe Biden’s sweeping plan to cancel at least $10,000 in student debt for millions of Americans.
The Westwood College cancellation applies to all students who attended the chain from Jan. 1, 2002, through Nov. 17, 2015, when the college stopped enrolling new students before its 2016 closure. Students will not need to apply for the relief.
With help from attorneys general in Colorado and Illinois, federal officials found that the college routinely misled prospective students about their chances of getting good jobs after graduating.
In its marketing materials, the chain advertised employment rates and salary outcomes that were “grossly inflated,” the Education Department found. It also promised to help graduates pay their bills if they couldn’t find jobs within six months after graduating — a pledge officials say wasn’t kept.
In Illinois, the chain’s criminal justice programs told students they could expect law enforcement jobs in agencies including the Illinois State Police, but Westwood never had the accreditation needed to meet employment requirements for the state, authorities found.
“Westwood operated on a culture of false promises, lies, and manipulation in order to profit off student debt that burdened borrowers long after Westwood closed,” said James Kvaal, under secretary of education.
Kvaal said the administration is ramping up efforts to protect students and to “ensure that executives who commit such harm never work at institutions that receive federal financial aid again.”
Before its closure, Westwood operated 15 campuses in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois and Virginia, along with online programs.
A group of students and civil rights organizations sued the Education Department in May demanding debt cancellation for Westwood students in Illinois based on findings of fraud there. It followed a settlement between the college and Illinois that erased institutional loans but not federal debt.
“It never should have taken this long — or litigation — for the Department of Education to do the right thing, but we are thrilled that the department has finally discharged the loans of defrauded Westwood College students,” said Dan Zibel, chief counsel at National Student Legal Defense Network, one of the groups behind the suit.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called it a victory for students but said more must be done “to crack down on for-profit colleges that lie and lead Illinoisans into mountains of student debt without a viable degree or career path.”
The cancellation is being granted through a federal rule known as borrower defense, which provides federal student debt cancellation to borrowers whose colleges misled them or defrauded them in other ways. The rule has mostly been used to erase debt used to attend for-profit colleges.
In similar actions, the Biden administration also moved to cancel nearly $6 billion for former students of Corinthian Colleges and nearly $4 billion for former students of ITT Technical institute.
After months of intense pressure for broader student debt cancellation, Biden last week unveiled a plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for all borrowers with incomes less than $125,000 a year or $250,000 per household. Those who received a federal Pell Grant to attend college are eligible for an additional $10,000 in cancellation.
The plan, which is almost certain to be challenged in court, applies to federal student loans that were paid out before July 1 of this year. It applies to loans used to attend undergraduate and graduate programs.
Most borrowers will need to apply for cancellation through an application that the Education Department is expected to create by early October. Early applicants could see their student debt canceled before the start of next year, when a federal pause on student debt payments is set to expire.
The White House estimates the cancellation will cost $240 billion over the next 10 years, but outside analysts say it could be much higher. Official cost projections from the federal government are expected in coming weeks. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/former-westwood-college-students-have-federal-debt-canceled/ | 2022-08-30T19:04:32Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/former-westwood-college-students-have-federal-debt-canceled/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(The Hill) – Seventy-one percent of Americans indicated support for labor unions in a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, the highest percentage since 1965.
The latest measure is a slight uptick from the 68 percent who supported labor unions when the survey giant polled the question last year.
Gallup has tracked union approval for decades, and support has gradually increased since 2009.
Support fell below 50 percent for the only time in 2009, but ever since has been improving to levels now not seen in more than a half century.
The increased support comes as workers at many major companies have pursued union campaigns.
A Starbucks store in Buffalo, N.Y., became the company’s first U.S. location to unionize in December, and more than 200 stores have since successfully held votes to join the union. Starbucks has battled many of those unionization efforts in court.
In April, workers at one of Amazon’s New York City facilities voted to become the first of the e-commerce giant’s U.S. locations to unionize.
Additionally, the first U.S. Chipotle store voted to unionize last Thursday in Lansing, Mich.
The new poll found that 6 percent of U.S. adults report that they are a union member, and 16 percent live in a household in which at least one resident is part of a union.
The results remain in line with Gallup’s range of between 14 percent and 21 percent of adults since 2001 who have said they live in a household with at least one union member.
President Biden has pledged to be the most pro-union president in history. He has hosted union leaders organizing at major companies and spoke at AFL-CIO’s convention in June.
“We’re seeing a resurgence of worker organizations and unionization,” Biden said earlier this month. “Where I come from, that’s a good thing, and it’s long overdue.”
The Gallup poll was conducted between Aug. 1 and 23 through a random phone sample of 1,006 U.S. adults. The sample is weighted to match national demographics, and the margin of error is 4 percentage points. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/support-for-labor-unions-highest-since-1965-poll-finds/ | 2022-08-30T19:04:51Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/support-for-labor-unions-highest-since-1965-poll-finds/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Hours before Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared “a major step forward to secure our border” with the installation of 130 double-stacked shipping containers, hundreds of migrants found their way around them, belying his claim.
They walked through tribal lands to the edge of a towering wall built during Donald Trump’s presidency to surrender to border agents waiting outside the reservation, expecting to be released in the U.S. to pursue asylum.
Families, young parents carrying toddlers, elderly people and others easily waded through the knee-deep Colorado River before dawn Wednesday, many in sandals with shopping bags slung over their shoulders.
The wall isn’t the issue it was in 2018 when Congress denied Trump funding for one of his top priorities, prompting the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But last week’s events in Yuma are a reminder of obstacles that the government faces with border barriers: difficulty building on tribal land, most notably in the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, and opposition from landowners, especially in Texas, where, unlike other border states, much property is privately owned.
Ducey’s critics have seized on images from Univision network showing two containers that toppled during 11 days of construction for unknown reasons. Gary Restaino, the top federal prosecutor in Arizona, used a bilateral meeting in Mexico City to needle the governor Friday, tweeting, “We’re not dumping a bunch of shipping containers in the desert and calling it a wall to get cheap press.” Ducey retorted that ”we’ve taken matters into our own hands” because the federal government hasn’t done enough.
Migrants continue to avoid barriers by going around them — in this case, through a 5-mile (8-kilometer) gap in the Cocopah Indian Reservation near Yuma, a desert city of about 100,000 people between San Diego and Phoenix that has become a major spot for illegal crossings.
President Joe Biden halted wall construction his first day in office, leaving billions of dollars of work unfinished but still under contract. Trump worked feverishly in his final months to reach more than 450 miles (720 kilometers), nearly one-fourth of the entire border.
The Biden administration has made rare exceptions for small projects at areas deemed unsafe for people to cross, including four gaps in Yuma. It expects to award a contract for Yuma this fall and take up to 28 months to complete work.
When U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced its Yuma plans in July, Ducey said he couldn’t wait. Like fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, he has sparred with the Democratic administration over immigration policies, often suing and recently offering free bus rides to the East Coast for asylum-seekers who are released in the United States to pursue their cases.
“Arizona did the job the federal government has failed to do — and we showed them just how quickly and efficiently the border can be made more secure – if you want to,” Ducey said to celebrate installation of the containers, which run the length of 13 football fields in five locations combined.
A string of 44 double-stacked containers ends abruptly in an open desert expanse. Farther north, at the Morelos Dam, containers plug several openings in an area that had become less traveled in recent months.
The day Ducey declared his project complete, the Border Patrol encountered a fairly typical count of about 850 migrants entering the country illegally in its Yuma sector. Most were dropped off by bus or hired vehicle on the Mexican side and walked through the reservation in darkness under a crescent moon.
Migrants used vehicle barriers, dirt roads and flashlights on their phones to guide them to Border Patrol agents outside tribal lands to be taken into custody.
CBP hasn’t commented on Ducey’s containers but says its plan to plug gaps in the Trump-style barrier of steel poles topped with a metal plate up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) high will make a difference by funneling traffic to fewer areas.
“If Yuma has 10 gaps and people were crossing all 10 gaps, it’s much more difficult for us to deal with than if Yuma has one or two gaps and the majority of traffic is crossing through those gaps,” said John Modlin, chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson, Arizona, sector.
Asked for comment, the Cocopah Indian Tribe referred to a May 2020 letter to CBP expressing strong opposition to a wall, saying it would cut access to the river and tribal members in Mexico.
The tribe also released video showing its interim police chief, Arlene Martinez, outlining other cooperative measures with the Border Patrol, such as surveillance cameras and ground sensors. “Cocopah supports efforts to secure the border and always has,” she said. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-containers-are-no-hindrance-for-migrants-on-arizona-border/ | 2022-08-30T19:05:39Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-containers-are-no-hindrance-for-migrants-on-arizona-border/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK (AP) — At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she won’t bear children, though she and her girlfriend haven’t ruled out adoption.
The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the climate crisis and a genetic health condition among them.
“I don’t think it’s responsible to bring children into this world,” Johnson said. “There are already kids who need homes. I don’t know what kind of world it’s going to be in 20, 30, 40 years.”
She’s so sure, in fact, that she’ll soon have her tubes removed. It’s a precautionary decision sealed by the fall of Roe v. Wade and by tight restrictions on abortion services in her state and around the country.
Other women interviewed also cited climate change, along with overwhelming student debt coupled with inflation, as reasons they’ll never be parents. Some younger men, too, are opting out and more are seeking vasectomies.
Whatever the motivation, they play a role in dramatically low birth rates in the U.S.
The U.S. birth rate fell 4% in 2020, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report. The government noted a 1% uptick in U.S. births last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic: about 86,000 fewer than in 2019.
Walter and Kyah King live in suburban Las Vegas. Walter, 29, a sports data scientist, and Kyah, 28, a college career counselor, have been together nearly 10 years, the last four as a married couple. The realization that they didn’t want to have kids came on slowly for both of them.
“It was in our early 20s when the switch sort of flipped,” Kyah said. “We had moved to California and we were really just starting our adult lives. I think we talked about having three kids at one point. But just with the economy and the state of the world and just thinking about the logistics of bringing children into the world. That’s really when we started to have our doubts.”
Finances are top of mind. Before taxes, the two earn about $160,000 combined, with about $120,000 in student loan debt for Kyah and about $5,000 left for Walter. The couple said they wouldn’t be able to buy a house and shoulder the costs of even one child without major sacrifices they’re not willing to make.
But for Kyah, the decision goes well beyond money.
“I think we would be great parents, but the thought of going into our health system to give birth is really scary. Black women, black mothers, are not valued in the same way that white mothers are,” said Kyah, who is Black.
When Kyah’s IUD expires, Walter said he’ll consider a vasectomy, a procedure that went on the rise among men under 30 during the pandemic.
Jordan Davidson interviewed more than 300 people for a book out in December titled, “So When are You Having Kids?” The pandemic, she said, led many to delay childbirth among those contemplating children at all.
“These timelines that people created for themselves of, I want to accomplish X by three years from now, changed. People weren’t necessarily willing to move the goalposts and say, OK, I’m going to forgo these accomplishments and do this differently,” she said. “People still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They still want to meet certain financial benchmarks.”
Fears about climate change have cemented the idea of living without children for many, Davidson said.
“Now with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves, all of a sudden it is becoming real that, OK, this is happening during my time, and what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?” she said.
In New York City, 23-year-old Emily Shapiro, a copywriter for a pharmaceutical ad agency, earns $60,000 a year, lives at home as she saves money and has never wanted children.
“They’re sticky. I could never imagine picking up a kid that’s covered in ice cream. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. I don’t want to change a diaper. If I did have one, I wouldn’t want them until they’re in, like, sixth grade. I also think the physical Earth isn’t doing so great so it would be unfair,” she said.
Among those Jordan interviewed, concerns over the environment were far more prevalent among the younger group. Questions of affordability, she said, troubled both millennials and members of Gen Z.
“There is a lot of fear around having children who would be worse off than they viewed themselves during their childhoods,” Davidson said.
Dannie Lynn Murphy, who helps find software engineers for Google, said she was nearly 17 when she was removed from her home by child protective services due to a pattern of child abuse. Her wife, she said, was similarly raised in a “not great” environment.
“Both of us at one point would have said yes to kids,” she said. “In my late teenage, early adult years, I saw and understood the appeal and was attracted to the idea of getting to raise someone differently than I was raised. But the practical realities of a child kind of suck.”
Murphy earns about $103,000 a year, with bonuses and equity that can drive that amount up to $300,000. Her wife earns about $60,000 as an attorney. They don’t own their Seattle home.
“I can’t see myself committing to a mortgage, let alone a child,” the 28-year-old Murphy said. “I think the primary reason is financial. I would prefer to spend that money on traveling versus sinking a half a million dollars into raising a child. Secondarily, there’s now the fear of behaving with our children the way our parents behaved with us.”
Alyssa Persson, 31, was raised in small town South Dakota. Getting married and having children was ingrained in the culture, she said. It wasn’t until after her divorce from her high school sweetheart that she took a step back and asked herself what she actually wanted out of life.
“Most women where I’m from lose their identities in motherhood,” said Persson, who now lives in St. Louis and earns about $47,000 a year as a university librarian.
She’s carrying student loan debt of about $80,000. Persson is a former teacher who loves children, but she feels she is now thinking more clearly than ever about the costs, implications and sacrifices of parenting.
“Having children sounds like a trap to me, to be frank,” she said. “Financially, socially, emotionally, physically. And if there were ever any shadow of a doubt, the fact that I cannot comfortably support myself on my salary is enough to scare me away from the idea entirely.”
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Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
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For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/lifestyle | https://www.wwlp.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 2022-08-30T19:06:01Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Voters in two school districts will cast their ballots at the polls on Tuesday, as reported by our news partners, the Coeur d'Alene Press.
The Coeur d'Alene School District is holding its safety and maintenance levy election, asking constituents to vote in favor of an $8 million-per-year, 10-year levy that will provide funding to address hundreds of safety, health and maintenance priorities in schools and other district facilities.
The district has 40 buildings across 17 school campuses and other sites, including the school bus yard, maintenance shops, school meal operations, textbook depository, technology warehouse, public meeting space and district offices.
District facilities are an average of 33 years old. The backlog of deferred maintenance projects is more than $25 million. If this school plant facilities levy does not pass, the cost of these projects will increase to $68 million in five years and more than $101 million in 10 years.
If approved, the safety and maintenance levy will have a estimated tax rate of $31 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, or $.31 per $1,000.
With all property within the school district's boundaries estimated to have a taxable assessed value of $26.5 billion for 2022-23, the district's overall levy rate is expected to drop to about $.98 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value.
Successful passage of the levy by voters will add the $.31 for the safety and maintenance levy to the $.98 overall levy rate, bringing the school district's overall levy rate to roughly $1.30 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value. That is less than the 2021-22 levy rate of $1.56 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value.
"That is down from a rate of $2.38 per $1,000 in 2016," he said. "Our rate has been dropping steadily."
With the homeowner's exemption in Idaho at $125,000, a home assessed for 2022-23 at $500,000 — with the $125,000 exemption subtracted — has a taxable value of $375,000. At $.31 per $1,000, this levy would cost that homeowner $116.25 per year.
Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Shon Hocker said the safety of his district's students, teachers, classified staff and school volunteers is, without question, of utmost importance, and more can be done to improve school security.
"They also deserve to be in buildings that are healthy and comfortable, and which operate efficiently and cost-effectively," he said. "This is what we hope to deliver with this safety and maintenance levy. Over a 10-year period, we will be able to take care of the high-priority safety and maintenance needs in our schools. We hope voters carefully consider this proposal and all the good it will do for the young people we serve in our community."
The Plummer-Worley Joint School District is asking its constituents to approve a $627,500-per-year supplemental levy for two years, for a total of $1.255 million in those two years.
This supplemental levy is for safety and security measures, including external door and security camera replacement; maintenance needs, including roof updates and replacements of single-pane windows and LED lighting in student areas; athletics and athletic transportation; and staffing, including elementary teachers, a counselor and library staff.
The annual average cost of this levy to the taxpayer in the Plummer-Worley Joint School District is a tax of $53.83 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value.
“Most importantly what we're asking for is to remain fully staffed," Plummer-Worley Superintendent Russ Mitchell said. "These aren't new positions we’re asking for. These are existing positions. They're important for us to keep classrooms as small as possible, as well as a counselor. These are high priorities for us."
He said this levy will allow his district to keep its athletics programming. As for maintenance, Mitchell said the district is expected to be a good steward of what it has been given.
"These funds will allow us to do exactly that," he said. "It might seem like a significant amount of money, but what we're providing with that money is critical for those kids."
As of Monday afternoon, Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon reported more than 600 early votes had been cast. He said the precinct with the highest early voting turnout was already at 15%.
Visit kcgov.us/31/Elections for sample ballots and the polling place locator tool.
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 news partner. For more from our partners, click here.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/education/cda-plummer-worley-school-district-levy/293-3fa219d2-526e-4486-b845-71919354d1b9 | 2022-08-30T19:06:27Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/education/cda-plummer-worley-school-district-levy/293-3fa219d2-526e-4486-b845-71919354d1b9 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SAN FRANCISCO — Food delivery app company DoorDash said hackers accessed phone numbers, emails and delivery addresses after getting into a third-party vendor's computer system.
In a Thursday statement, the company said it has "no reason to believe that affected personal information has been misused for fraud or identity theft" from the "sophisticated phishing campaign."
DoorDash didn't share the exact timing of the breach, but told customers it "recently" caught suspicious activity from the unnamed vendor's computer network. It said the vendor's access to its systems was quickly disabled.
A spokesman for the company told Bloomberg and TechCrunch that the attack was linked to a phishing breach of messaging company Twilio Inc. earlier in August.
"The advanced tactics used appear to be connected to a wider phishing campaign that has targeted a number of other companies," DoorDash said in the statement. It said it has contacted law enforcement and affected users over the incident.
Phishing is when an attacker sends messages to trick people into sharing sensitive information, like passwords.
This is not DoorDash's first data breach; a 2019 attack exposed data from 4.9 million of its users, delivery workers and vendors.
Who was affected?
DoorDash said a "small percentage" of people whose data is stored on its system were affected.
For most affected customers, the breached data included name, email address, delivery address and phone number. For a smaller set of customers, it included basic order information and "partial" payment card information, like card type and the last four digits of the card number.
The company said delivery workers' information was also accessed, mostly including name, phone number and email.
DoorDash said based on its investigation, the breached data didn't include passwords, full payment card information, bank account numbers or Social Security numbers.
OTHER NEWS: 'Your DoorDash driver's going to jail' | Texas officer saves date night after arresting delivery driver | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/doordash-data-breach/507-bdbb7c38-76dc-4c04-92e7-9ca3ee969481 | 2022-08-30T19:06:33Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/doordash-data-breach/507-bdbb7c38-76dc-4c04-92e7-9ca3ee969481 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Privacy screen protectors for your laptop
Whether you use your laptop for work or entertainment, a privacy screen protector is essential for hiding your screen from prying eyes. Even if you don’t have sensitive or confidential information on the screen, this accessory can give you extra security and privacy. Plus, similar to a standard screen protector, it can also cut down on glare and help prevent eye strain while using your computer.
How to use a privacy screen protector
Privacy screen protectors for laptops are similar to smartphone screen protectors in many ways. They’re designed to cover the main display and act as a physical filter to keep others from easily seeing what you have on the screen.
In terms of application methods, there are two main options:
- Attach it directly to the physical screen. Be sure to apply it evenly and carefully to avoid damaging the display.
- Position it on the frame and bezels of the laptop. If you’re concerned about messing with the display, apply the screen protector to the frame instead.
Some privacy screen protectors have an adhesive quality that lets you apply them without any tools or equipment. Others require strips along the borders or strategically placed suction cups. A few use clips or magnets are especially useful if you only want to remove the screen protector occasionally.
How privacy screen protectors for laptops work
Privacy screen protectors use the same technology found in polarized glasses. It keeps your computer’s screen hidden from nearby visual hackers.
The screen protector starts preventing visibility at around a 30-degree angle. This means you can still see whatever is on the screen while sitting in front of your laptop. However, anyone sitting nearby or beside you won’t be able to read the display.
Screen size and measuring
Laptops range in size, and so do privacy screen protectors. Before getting one, make sure it’s the right size, or it might not fit or work properly.
If you’re not sure what size to get, measure the height and width of your screen. Then, compare these dimensions with the screen protector you want. Some manufacturers also use diagonal measurements, so measure that, too.
Many laptops have raised bezels around the main display. Avoid including these in the measurement, as most screen protectors can’t be applied to them. Some laptops have very thin bezels, which can be included in the measurement as they add to the total viewable display area.
Common privacy screen protector sizes for laptops are:
- 13.3 inches
- 14 inches
- 15.6 inches
- 17.3 inches
Some manufacturers measure screen protectors by their aspect ratio instead of in inches. The most common aspect ratio for laptops is 16:9. Make sure to cross-reference this when determining the right size for your screen.
Construction
Most privacy screen protectors are made from thin, durable plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate. A few use tempered glass. If you plan to remove and reattach it repeatedly, go with a thicker one that can withstand handling. Otherwise, a thinner one blends in more easily with the computer screen.
Other main benefits
Besides keeping away unwanted eyes, here are the other main benefits of privacy screen protectors:
- Anti-glare: Many screen protectors have a coating that keeps environmental light from reflecting on the display. This is especially useful if your laptop is positioned near bright indoor lights or in the sunlight.
- Blue light protection: Blue light can cause blurred vision, eye strain and negatively affect sleep quality. Unfortunately, it’s prominent in many digital devices and certain types of light bulbs. Privacy screen protectors can often cut down on blue light exposure.
- Scratch-resistance: Having any kind of screen protector on your laptop or monitor can protect the display from scratches. Some screen protectors indicate how hard they are on the Moh scale, which ranges from 1 to 10. Most screen protectors are around 9H, meaning they’re durable and unlikely to tear.
- Smudge-resistance: Some privacy screen covers have a hydrophobic coating that makes them resistant to smudges or oils. This is helpful for those who use a touchscreen display, as it can keep marks from appearing on the screen and improve the image’s crispness.
Disadvantages
Privacy screen protectors are mostly beneficial, but they’re not meant for everyone. Here are the main disadvantages:
- They can slightly reduce the visual clarity or brightness of whatever is on the screen, especially if you don’t apply it correctly.
- Using one in a coworking space could be tricky if your colleagues need to view the screen next to you.
- They can get dirty, which can further affect the laptop’s display.
- Some are difficult to remove or may leave a slight residue.
Cleaning the privacy screen protector
Before cleaning the screen protector, carefully remove it from the laptop. Then, use a lint-free or microfiber cloth with some glass cleaner to wipe it down. Make sure the cleaner doesn’t have ammonia. Let it fully dry before reapplying.
Longevity
High-quality privacy screen protectors will last as long as your laptop does. Some should be replaced more often, though, especially if they have scratches or smudges you can’t remove.
8 best privacy screen protectors for laptops
This privacy screen protector is compatible with six different widescreen sizes, from 13.3 to 27 inches. It can shield the display from passersby while reducing blue light by up to 65%. It’s easy to attach to the display or the screen’s outer edges using double-sided tape.
Sold by Amazon
ProCase Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 and 1 12.4-Inch Privacy Screen Protector
Compatible with the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 12.4-inch and the Surface Laptop Go 12.4-inch displays, this tempered glass screen protector has a 9H surface hardness and is highly durable. It’s also resistant to oils and scratches. It’s only .2 millimeters thick, so you can open and close the laptop while it’s on.
Sold by Amazon
SightPro 14-Inch Laptop Privacy Screen Filter
This filter comes in 14 sizes, ranging from 13.3 to 27 inches. It’s compatible with many laptop brands, including Lenovo, Dell and Asus. It offers protection against glare and blue light to reduce eye strain. It’s easy to apply with either double-sided adhesive or mount tabs.
Sold by Amazon
Kensington MP13 MacBook Magnetic Privacy Screen
Made for 13.3-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air systems, this magnetic privacy screen protector is effective and easy to apply. It has one glossy side and one matte side. It can filter rays up to 22%, preventing headaches and easing eye strain.
Sold by Amazon
High Clarity Laptop Privacy Screen Filter for Widescreen Laptop Monitors
This filter is perfect for laptops ranging from 13.3 to 17.3 inches. It’s scratch-resistant, offers UV protection, filters out blue light and doesn’t have any pixelation. It can also prevent others from seeing the screen at around 30 degrees and beyond.
Sold by Amazon
Kensington MagPro 15.6-Inch Laptop Privacy Screen
Compatible with 12.5-, 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch laptop screens, this filter is easy to attach and remove with magnetic strips. It can reduce glare and prevent up to 22% of blue light. It’s also reversible and scratch-resistant.
Sold by Dell
Stary Laptop Privacy Screen 14-Inch Widescreen Display Privacy Screen for Laptop
Resistant to scratches and glare, this screen protector comes in 14- and 15.6-inch sizes. It’s made from durable polyethylene terephthalate. It’s great for busy workplaces and can keep your display private at a 60-degree viewing angle.
Sold by Amazon
14-Inch Privacy Screen Filter for Widescreen Laptop
This privacy screen protector can reduce eye strain, keep your information safe from passersby and it cuts down on glare. It uses attachment strips and slide-mount tabs that are easy to apply and remove.
Sold by Amazon
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NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s elite are getting involved with one of Europe’s most celebrated soccer clubs.
The New York Yankees are becoming a minority investor in Italian champion AC Milan, the second soccer team the baseball power will partially own after MLS’s New York City.
A Los Angeles-based fund that includes LeBron James also is becoming a minority investor in the seven-time European champion under RedBird Capital Partners, The Financial Times reported Tuesday. RedBird is nearing a deal to purchase a controlling interest in Milan for 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion).
Gerry Cardinale, who founded RedBird in 2014 and is a managing partner, announced a preliminary agreement in June to buy Milan from fellow American firm Elliott Management. The closing is to take place by the end of September.
Yankees Global Enterprises, the baseball team’s parent company led by the Steinbrenner family, will take a stake of about 10% in Milan, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the final deal has not been announced.
“We’re very confident that the Yankee brand is the most famous sports brand in the world, and we think we can help boost the revenue of AC Milan by being associated with it,” Yankees president Randy Levine said Tuesday.
Milan declined to comment.
The Yankees agreed in 2013 to purchase a 20% stake in the New York City Major League Soccer team that launched in 2015. City Football Group, Manchester City’s parent company, is the controlling owner.
Yankees Global Enterprises also owns stakes in the YES Network and Legends Hospitality, formed in 2008 with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
“It came about based on our relationship with Gerry and RedBird that goes back over 25 years,” Levine said. “The Steinbrenners were one of the original investors in RedBird when Gerry started it. We worked very closely with Gerry when he was at Goldman Sachs in building the YES Network and Legends Hospitality. He was involved with Goldman’s work on the new Yankee Stadium when RedBird was formed and YES was purchased back from Disney, RedBird became a partner with us and YES.”
The Yankees, 27-time World Series champions, are signing a separate marketing agreement with Milan, a 19-time Italian champion, that will include broadcasting replays of games on the YES Network, as Manchester City does. There also will be cross-merchandising between the pinstripes and the Rossoneri.
“We have a little familiarity with soccer — we’ve learned a little since our relationship with City Football Group,” Levine said. “We think it’s a good investment. Like with Man City, we do not intend to get involved in running the soccer side. We leave it to the experts. We’ve got enough to do on the baseball side.”
New York City plays most of its home games at Yankee Stadium, and Levine is helping lead the search for a site for a soccer stadium for the MLS team.
Milan is coming off its first Italian title in 11 years.
Main Street Advisors, the fund supported by James, also counts the rapper Drake among its partners, as well as English Premier League club Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox.
James and Drake will be passive investors in Milan through the fund and have not taken direct stakes, according to The Financial Times, which first reported the investments.
RedBird also has a stake in Fenway Sports Group, parent company of Liverpool and the Red Sox. Champions League rules prohibit two clubs in the competition from being under the same ownership to protect the integrity of games on the field. UEFA likely will have to make a judgment on the extent of RedBird’s influence on decision-making at Liverpool.
RedBird is set to become Milan’s fourth owner in five years.
Milan was owned by Silvio Berlusconi from 1986 until 2017. Italy’s prime minister from 2001-06 and 2008-11, Berlusconi sold control to a company controlled by Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Co. The American hedge fund Elliott provided financing and took control of the team in 2018 when loan payments were not made.
Inter Milan, Roma, Fiorentina and Bologna are among other foreign-owned teams in Serie A.
“Italian soccer is still experiencing financial contraction,” Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta said of the Milan transaction. “We’ve gone from a period of patronage by the Morattis and the Berlusconis who brought (trophies) to Milan and Inter to a situation in which both clubs have foreign ownership. And thank goodness they came.
“Most of the foreign owners are American and they’ve brought in a new business model, and a different mentality in which economic and financial sustainability is very important.”
Having previously failed to qualify for Europe’s elite competition for seven consecutive years, including a one-year UEFA ban for breaking financial monitoring rules, Milan is playing in the Champions League for a second consecutive season. That competition can increase revenue by about 100 million euros ($100 million) in UEFA prize money and help restore the club’s global brand.
Milan shares one of soccer’s iconic venues, San Siro, with rival Inter Milan. With a capacity of about 80,000, the stadium opened in 1926, was extensively renovated ahead of the 1990 World Cup and is scheduled to host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. There are few luxury suites and fan amenities in the venue, formally known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, and both Milan and Inter have discussed building a new stadium adjacent to the current arena.
“As we help the City Football Group here in New York,” Levine said, “in commercial ways and trying to get through a stadium and a whole bunch of other things, we think in our brand there could be synergies between us and Milan that will raise the value of Milan significantly.”
Former longtime team captain Paolo Maldini will stay on as Milan’s technical area director despite the ownership change, a person involved in the negotiations said, adding that Stefano Pioli is safe in his job as Milan’s coach. That person also spoke the AP on condition of anonymity because the final deal has not been announced yet.
The only Italians investing in the deal are media rights executive Riccardo Silva and his brother, Saverio Silva, the person said.
Riccardo Silva owns the Miami soccer club, which plays in the second-tier USL Championship. He founded the Miami team together with Maldini, who withdrew his ownership stake in Miami when he took on his current role at Milan.
The deal could involve players from Milan’s youth academy spending time at Miami.
___
Dampf reported from Rome. AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf | https://www.wwlp.com/sports/ap-report-yankees-la-fund-investing-in-ac-milan-soccer-team/ | 2022-08-30T19:07:57Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/sports/ap-report-yankees-la-fund-investing-in-ac-milan-soccer-team/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A mother has spoken out of the heartbreak her and her 'broken' family have experienced over the death of her three-day-old baby girl, Rosanna Matthews. Little Rosanna was in a coma from the moment she was born on November 20, 2020 at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Kent, and died three days later.
An inquest into her death opened at the Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone on Tuesday, August 30, after two years of delays. Rosanna's mother, Elena Sala, spoke after the first day of the hearing and described the impact her baby's passing has had on the family.
Miss Sala, who is from Maidstone, said: "It has broken us. We are not the same people we were before we had her.We've had sleepless nights, anxiety, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and we will never be completely right again."
READ MORE: Maidstone dad with 'urge to kill someone' took his own life 'to protect his family'
She added: "We're hoping massively for change. It was an unnecessary death, from our point of view, it doesn't need to happen to anyone else but I know it most likely is.
"There needs to be proper education and training at that hospital. The delays to the inquest have delayed things but I'm glad it's finally happening so we can finally get some answers."
Miss Sala said that aside from some heavy discharge during the later months, her pregnancy with Rosanna was completely normal. She started experiencing contractions at 41 weeks and six days, on November 20 2020, and she was 2cm dilated when examined at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
She was told to go home and return in two hours, which she did at 11.40am, by which time she was 3cm dilated. At this point she would ordinarily be sent home again but she was instead admitted to hospital as she was in so much pain.
From around 4pm Miss Sala started to feel a strong desire to push but was advised not to by midwives. She believes that if she had begun to push when she felt the urge, her baby might have lived.
She received different types of pain relief while in hospital, including gas and air and eventually an epidural. But Miss Sala claims this did not have any effect and she was in pain, suffering "massive contractions", while being told not to push.
Midwife Agatha Carter, who gave evidence by a video-link, said Miss Sala declined two offers of a vaginal examination to see how dilated she was, which could have led to progressing the labour and birth.
Miss Sala said she declined an examination once because she wanted to wait for the epidural, which was delated because both the duty anaesthetists were busy elsewhere. She added that the benefits of an examination in progressing labour were not explained to her.
The family's solicitors argued that foetal and maternal heart rate monitoring was not up to standard and action was not taken when abnormalities were detected.
After three failed attempts to deliver the baby using a vacuum pump, and another attempt using forceps which failed due to the pain felt by Miss Sala, she was taken to theatre for a Caesarean section, with Rosanna being born at 5.48pm.
Rosanna's family, including her father David Matthews, who are all from Maidstone, are considering a clinical negligence claim against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust that runs Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Their lawyer, Mark Bowman of Fieldfisher Solicitors, said: "No family should have to wait two years and two aborted attempts to go through an inquest.
"We just hope and expect the coroner will conduct a thorough investigation, lessons will be learned, mistakes won't be repeated and other families won't have to endure that. With a clinical negligence claim we will need to see how things go over the next few days."
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Kent businesses see dramatic rise in people making off without paying as cost of living bites | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/kent-parents-broken-death-three-7527233 | 2022-08-30T19:10:13Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/kent-parents-broken-death-three-7527233 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Xochitl Gomez Cast in Ursa Major
It looks like Flying Lotus’ Ash isn’t the only big sci-fi project from XYZ Films getting shopped around at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. The studio is currently preparing to sell buyers on Ursa Major, another survival thriller set on a faraway planet. And according to The Hollywood Reporter, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Xochitl Gomez have already signed on to star in it.
Winstead and Gomez will headline the movie as Charlie and Natalie, a mother-daughter duo who are stranded on an Earth-like world that’s home to a variety of threats. Foremost among these is a group of hunters that force them to go into hiding as a deadly storm approaches. But while they’re on the run, Natalie begins to harbor suspicions about her mother’s decision-making. She is also forced to wonder if Charlie has been honest about who they are, and why they came to this world.
RELATED: Flying Lotus’ “Ash” Adds Tessa Thompson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Presumably, Winstead is currently working on Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Ahsoka series, which began shooting back in May. Her most recent film project, Kate, was released on Netflix in 2021. Meanwhile, Gomez is having a banner year thanks to her breakout role in America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She also starred in the first season of Netflix’s short-lived reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club.
Jonathan and Josh Baker, who previously made their feature debut with 2018’s Kin, are helming Ursa Major. The screenplay is by Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven), Colleen O’Brien, and Katie French. Somerville will also produce the film with David Eisenberg through their Tractor Beam banner alongside Lost City’s John Finemore, MXN Entertainment’s Mason Novick, and Artists First’s Brian Steinberg. Lost City’s James Hoppe and Jack Byrnes will also executive produce the movie in association with XYZ.
What do you make of XYZ’s plans for Ursa Major? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Electric State
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Keeley Hawes Joins Krysten Ritter in Orphan Black: Echoes
The original Orphan Black primarily focused on Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) and her clones scattered scattered throughout North America. But the upcoming sequel series will play things a bit differently by having multiple performers share the spotlight next year. According to Deadline, Keeley Hawes is the latest addition to Orphan Black: Echoes, joining the series as a “co-lead” opposite Krysten Ritter and others.
Hawes will appear on the show as a “perceptive but sensitive” scientist. Unfortunately, we still don’t know her character’s name. But she apparently “finds herself at odds with her own moral code when circumstances lead her to make an unthinkable choice.”
Casting for Echoes began last month with Ritter coming aboard the show as Lucy, a woman with an “unimaginable origin story” who encounters other individuals with similarly mysterious pasts. Many fans suspected that Ritter would play a role akin to the one Maslany played in the flagship series. But the involvement of Hawes and other recent additions like Amanda Fix and Avan Jogia indicates that viewers will get to experience this latest chapter in the Orphan Black saga through more than just the perspective of Ritter’s character. Although Echoes will examine “the scientific manipulation of human existence,” it’s still unclear if we can expect another cloning story.
RELATED: Jessica Jones’ Krysten Ritter Will Star in AMC’s Orphan Black: Echoes
Hawes is primarily known for her work in British film and television. Her credits include the original Death at a Funeral, High-Rise, and To Olivia. She has also appeared in drama programs like Bodyguard and It’s a Sin, the latter of which aired on HBO Max in the United States. Additionally, Hawes also provided the voice of Lara Croft in several Tomb Raider video games, including Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld.
Anna Fishko is spearheading Echoes as its creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Original Orphan Black co-creator John Fawcett is also working on the spinoff as an executive producer and director. Boat Rocker’s David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg will executive produce alongside Katie O’Connell Marsh, Nick Nantell, and Kerry Appleyard.
Orphan Black: Echoes will premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2023.
How do you feel about Hawes joining the cast of the new series? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Orphan Black
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A TikToker has shared a way passengers can travel via train for less this summer. TikTok user Jaystips posted a video explaining his hack to his 65,000 followers, where he revealed a simple thing travellers can do to reduce the price of their train tickets.
Filming himself at a train station, he begins by joking "I'm broke baby", before explaining: "First you need to buy a railcard, right now they're 33 per cent off, meaning you can get one for £20."
Fans are told to follow a link in his bio to access the discount, where passengers need to enter the code SUMMER33 into Trainline's discount box at the checkout. Travellers have until the end of August to bag the digital railcard, so they will have to act quickly.
He continues: "Next, check the app [Trainline] for tickets, which are usually cheaper when you book in advance." The TikToker then shows a screenshot of a ticket from Birmingham New Street to London Euston priced at £38.65, down from £58.70, for Sunday (August 7). "And just like that you save £20 on one booking, which the railcard pays for. Follow me for more, I'm broke baby," he concludes.
Railcards are handy for passengers who want regular discounts when they travel by train. Railcard holders can normally get a third off their train tickets, making travel easier all year round.
Students can opt for the 16-25 railcard, while other railcards include the 26-30, Senior Railcards, Two Together Railcards, Family and Friends Railcards, Network Railcards, and the 16-17 Saver.
All deals are available at thetrainline.com, and if you download the Trainline app, your new Railcard can be stored there so you’ll never have to worry about leaving it behind - as long as you don’t forget your phone.
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- Brits could save up over £600 by switching from this energy-sucking appliance
- Good Morning Britain's Adil Ray swears live on show after awkward 'fish and chip' slip up | https://www.kentlive.news/news/uk-world-news/broke-tiktoker-shares-clever-hack-7526648 | 2022-08-30T19:10:23Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/uk-world-news/broke-tiktoker-shares-clever-hack-7526648 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Ben Kingsley Will Return as Trevor Slattery in Marvel’s Wonder Man Series
Earlier this year, Marvel began developing a Wonder Man series for Disney+ with former Community scribe Andrew Guest coming aboard as the head writer. And while the studio has yet to announce the show in any official capacity (including last month’s Comic-Con panel), the first big casting news has just emerged. But surprisingly, it’s not for the title character. Variety reports that Ben Kingsley will play a “major role” in the upcoming series, reprising his role as Trevor Slattery from previous MCU films.
Kingsley made his first appearance as Trevor in Iron Man 3 in 2013. The movie’s trailers famously led us to believe that Kingsley was playing The Mandarin in the sequel. However, it was ultimately revealed that Trevor was a washed-up actor who was hired to pose as the villain in exchange for drug money. A year later, Trevor appeared in Marvel’s All Hail the King short, where he was broken out of prison by a servant of the Ten Rings’ real leader. He finally made his triumphant return to the MCU in last year’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The film revealed that Trevor spent the last several years locked up in Wenwu’s compound. But on a more positive note, he also managed to get sober during this timeframe.
RELATED: Disney+ Lines Up a Creative Team For Marvel’s Wonder Man Series
On one hand, this seems like an unusual place for Kingsley to make his next MCU comeback. But it’s also not hard to see why he was chosen to be a supporting character in the series. In the comics, Simon Williams began working as an actor and stuntman following his transformation into a superhero. And rumor has it Marvel is developing Wonder Man as a Hollywood satire, so Trevor could be a welcome addition to its send-ups of the entertainment industry.
Kingsley’s involvement also gives us a better idea of the tone that Marvel is aiming for. Since his character normally appears as comic relief, it’s a safe bet that the show will be lighthearted in a manner similar to early episodes of WandaVision and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Wonder Man will reunite Kingsley with Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton, who serves as an executive producer on the series with Guest. Marvel hasn’t announced a release window for the show.
Are you excited to see Kingsley return as Trevor Slattery in Marvel’s Wonder Man series? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Avengers Two: Wonder Man & The Beast
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STOCKHOLM , Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Impact AB (Nasdaq First North GM: CI) will set up a Cell Impact Forming™ flow plate demonstration line in Japan in collaboration with leading Japanese auto parts supplier F.C.C. Co., Ltd.
For several years, Cell Impact has carried out customer development projects for flow plates in Japan, a significant market for fuel cells and electrolysis equipment. The Japanese market is also one of the world's most demandingmarkets, requiring a long-term perspective and systematic work to be successful. Against this backdrop, Cell Impact Japan Inc. was established in early 2021 to better align with market requirements and strengthen the company's marketing capabilities.
In collaboration with F.C.C., a leading global automotive parts supplier, Cell Impact is pleased to announce that a Cell Impact Forming flow plate forming line will be installed at F.C.C.'s premises in Hamamatsu, Japan.
Over an extended period of time, this initiative will demonstrate Cell Impact's scalable, green and cost-efficient flow plate forming and production technology to existing and prospective customers.
"F.C.C. has found that Cell Impact Forming is a unique and cost-efficient way of producing flow plates. This is why we're so pleased to have created a joint team with Cell Impact to run production demonstration activities here in Japan so the fuel cell industry can learn more about this promising technology," says says Yoshifumi Fuchigami, Operating Officer at F.C.C.
"We are delighted to have established a relationship with F.C.C., a truly professional company with cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and know-how, and to have the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of Cell Impact's forming technology with them in Japan," says Shigeru Nakagawa, Managing Director of Cell Impact Japan Inc.
"F.C.C. has a keen interest in this industry and with their assistance, I am sure we will carry out the demonstration activities in an excellent way," Pär Teike, CEO of Cell Impact, concludes.
The Cell Impact Forming line at F.C.C. is expected to be put into operation this fall.
About Cell Impact
Cell Impact AB (publ) is a global supplier of advanced flow plates to fuel cell and electrolysis manufacturers. The company has developed and patented a unique method for high-velocity forming, Cell Impact Forming™, which is significantly more scalable and cost-efficient compared to conventional forming methods. Cell Impact Forming is an environmentally friendly forming technology that consumes no water and very little electrical power.
The Cell Impact share is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market and FNCA Sweden AB is the company's Certified Advisor (CA). Contact info: +46 8-528 00 399 or info@fnca.se.
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New 35,000-Square-Foot Facility Marks Phase Two of Development for Downtown Las Vegas Casino-Resort
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Circa Resort & Casino's 35,000-square-foot meeting and convention space is now open and available for booking. The state-of-the art facility marks the second phase of development for the downtown Las Vegas' resort, providing meeting planners contemporary, tech-forward options to book events, galas, meetings and more, off the Strip.
For photos, click here
Circa's meeting spaces offer groups top-tier, turnkey audio and visual capabilities and customizable rooms for up to 1,000 guests. Featuring a ballroom, breakout and banquet rooms, adjacent pre-function space and a 1,600-square-foot outdoor terrace, the spaces are outfitted to complement Circa's mid-century, art deco and modern design motifs.
"As the meetings and events industries continue to ramp up after the pandemic, we are thrilled to introduce our incredible facilities to downtown Las Vegas," said Derek Stevens, CEO of Circa. "It has always been our intention to add this to Circa's repertoire, and we look forward to kicking off our first series of events in September."
Equipped with best-in-class technology, Circa makes it easy for on-the-spot event functionality. Unique environmental measures have been implemented including LED lighting and adaptive, intelligent controlled HVAC systems that adjust temperatures to changing ecosystems. Additional technological offerings include 16K LU laser projectors, retractable screens, audio tie lines, patchable ethernet lines, strands of patchable single mode fiber in pairs on LC connectors, quad outlets and LED screens. The facility also features a large freight elevator to transport large vehicles and displays directly to the third floor for ease of access. A full kitchen is dedicated to Circa's convention area, serving up delectable food and beverage experiences to elevate any event into an unforgettable occasion.
Sasha Lee, Circa's Director of Sales, said "When creating these spaces, we kept meeting planners in mind with details such as flexible room sizes, in-house IT to maintain lower costs and a large elevator for easy load out. We are so pleased with how the area turned out and proud to introduce Las Vegas' newest convention area."
Circa's meetings and conventions facility was designed by JCJ Architecture with the original design concept from Steelman Partners. For an overview of Circa's meeting and event spaces, click here.
Circa's event offerings were planned with adaptability and customization in mind, accommodating multiple configurations and combination seating to support meeting planners' needs. Continuing the property's tradition of honoring Las Vegas' history, each of the five main meeting spaces are named after iconic Las Vegas motels from past eras:
- Galaxy: The largest of Circa's meeting rooms, Galaxy shares its name with the short-lived Galaxy Motel. Four adjoining meeting rooms boast 14,456 square feet and a 1,677-square-foot outdoor terrace overlooking the city. It was designed to be able to host a multitude of events with a large LED screen, built in audio-visual capabilities, full rigging and a partition wall that opens the ballroom to the pre-function spaces.
- Starlite: Opened in the 1950s and still operating today, Starlite became popular due to its star-themed rooms during the height of the Space Age. Starlite spans 3,572 square feet across three rooms and includes built in audio-visual, full rigging and access to pre-function spaces.
- Carousel: Circa sits on the site formerly home to the Carousel, a casino where guests could dine on an assortment of delicacies for 96 cents. Carousel offers 1,651 square feet across three rooms and boasts built in audio-visual and access to pre-function spaces.
- Ambassador: Beginning as apartments in the 1930s and remaining open as a motel through 2007, the Ambassador vintage sign can still be seen at downtown Las Vegas' Life is Beautiful festival. Circa's two Ambassador meeting areas can be booked together for a total of 1,055 square feet with built in audio-visual and access to pre-function spaces.
- La Concha: Described as "The Jetsons meets coffee shop," La Concha Motel was built on a shoestring budget and remained open for 45 years. Circa's La Concha room features 920 square feet and has built in audio-visual capabilities and access to pre-function spaces.
- Bonanza Office: The Bonanza Office is named after the iconic Bonanza Casino, which is now Bally's on the Strip. The hard-walled office features 192 square feet of private space.
Circa Resort & Casino also is home to a multitude of meeting options across the property, including stunning suites, the resort's 60th floor cocktail lounge, restaurants and entertainment areas:
- Circa Suites: Standing at 458 ft. tall and 35 stories high, Circa's hotel tower is the tallest building north of the Las Vegas Strip, affording breathtaking views of the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding mountains. With design elements that pay homage to vintage Vegas, Circa's rooms range from 439 to 1,830 square feet.
- Stadium Swim: The country's largest pool destination for sports fans, Stadium Swim, is open year-round and features a 143-foot diagonal screen that plays the day's biggest games. The pool amphitheater can be rented for semi-private events or full buyouts for groups of up to 4,000.
- Legacy Club: Sitting sky-high on the 60th floor of Circa's hotel tower, the indoor/outdoor, 9,330-square-foot Legacy Club delivers extraordinary 360-degree views of Las Vegas and is complemented by an upscale lounge, expansive outdoor terrace with fire pits and iconic artwork. The venue can hold 200 seated or 400 standing guests and can host private and semi-private events.
- World's Largest Sportsbook: Circa is home to the world's largest sportsbook, boasting a 78-million-pixel screen capable of playing up to 19 games at once. The book has a 1,000-person viewing capacity, 350 stadium-seating capacity and is ideal for sports groups.
- Vegas Vickie Cocktail Lounge: Circa's elevated lobby cocktail lounge Vegas Vickie surrounds the iconic neon kicking cowgirl sign herself. The 130-person-capacity lounge is perfect for cocktail-only receptions.
- Restaurants: Circa houses five unique new-to-Vegas dining experiences from renowned chefs and restaurateurs that can be rented for meetings or enjoyed pre- or post-event:
For more information or to book a meeting, visit circalasvegas.com. To view the sales kit, click here.
# # #
Circa Resort & Casino is an all-new integrated resort concept in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. The city's first adults-only casino-resort, the AAA Four Diamond Circa pays homage to Vegas' Golden Era through vintage design, old-school hospitality and nods to the city's history while introducing high-tech advancements and innovative amenities. The resort features upscale rooms and suites; the world's largest sportsbook; Stadium Swim, a year-round pool aqua theater; a two-story casino; Garage Mahal, a high-tech transportation hub; the luxe Legacy Club rooftop lounge; an expansive local art collection; 35,000 sq. ft of meetings and conventions space and more. Guests can indulge at original restaurant concepts including premium steaks and seafood at Barry's Downtown Prime from Chef Barry S. Dakake and Make It Happen Hospitality; Pan-Asian fare at 8 East from Chef Dan Coughlin; deli classics at Saginaw's Delicatessen from restaurateur Paul Saginaw; authentic Carolina barbecue at Project BBQ; and all-star menus at Victory Burger & Wings Co. from the founding family of American Coney Island. Visit circalasvegas.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @circalasvegas to stay up to date.
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SOURCE Circa Resort & Casino | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/las-vegas-circa-resort-amp-casino-celebrates-expansion-with-new-meetings-amp-conventions-facility/ | 2022-08-30T19:17:21Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/las-vegas-circa-resort-amp-casino-celebrates-expansion-with-new-meetings-amp-conventions-facility/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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Readers' Choice Awards | https://www.parrysound.com/news-story/10701521--it-doesn-t-feel-real-family-and-friends-of-victims-coping-with-loss-after-devastating-fatal-cra/ | 2022-08-30T19:17:47Z | parrysound.com | control | https://www.parrysound.com/news-story/10701521--it-doesn-t-feel-real-family-and-friends-of-victims-coping-with-loss-after-devastating-fatal-cra/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md.
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Health has announced the state’s second monkeypox case was identified, in a Teton County resident.
Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with WDOH, said follow up with the adult man showed no increased risk of the virus to the local community, according to Monday's news release.
Monkeypox is characterized by a rash with other symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and tiredness. Monkeypox is rarely fatal, but it can be highly unpleasant and painful and can cause serious illness in some people.
“We want people to realize monkeypox spreads through close, intimate contact and does not spread easily like familiar viruses such as influenza or COVID-19,” Harrist said in the written announcement.
Harrist said steps to help reduce monkeypox risk include:
Talking with intimate partners about monkeypox symptoms and being aware of any new or unexplained rash or lesions. Anyone who has or recently had monkeypox symptoms or has a new or unexplained rash shouldn't have sex and should see a health care provider.
Consider limiting the number of one-time or anonymous sex partners to reduce likelihood of exposure.
Condoms may provide some protection against monkeypox, but may not prevent all exposures because the rash can occur in other areas of the body.
“While anyone can become ill with monkeypox, we specifically recommend vaccination for people who have been exposed to monkeypox and for people who may be more likely to get monkeypox based on how the current outbreak has been spreading,” Harrist said.
The following people are eligible for pre-exposure vaccination if they live or work in Wyoming:
Men who have sex with men and who have had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the last year.
Partners of men who have sex with men who have had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the last year.
Transgender and nonbinary persons assigned male at birth who have had sex with multiple or anonymous sexual partners who are male or male assigned at birth within the past year.
Sex workers (of any sex).
Eligible individuals interested in vaccination appointments should contact their public health office. Contact information for county public health offices can be found at health.wyo.gov/publichealth/nursing/phn-co-offices/. Wyoming residents may also call WDOH at 307-777-6004 for help finding the closest public health office.
While vaccine doses are being provided by the federal government through the state at no cost, a small administration fee may be charged.
Detailed facts and recommendations, including rash photos, are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/states-second-monkeypox-case-identified-in-teton-county/article_a4edef66-288c-11ed-9d89-970b2a6fd1c0.html | 2022-08-30T19:18:02Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/states-second-monkeypox-case-identified-in-teton-county/article_a4edef66-288c-11ed-9d89-970b2a6fd1c0.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHEYENNE – State lawmakers spent Friday morning searching for ways to provide more affordable housing to Wyoming residents, including solutions such as a state housing trust fund and land banking.
Discussions were led by members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, state agencies and local nonprofits invested in breaking down barriers to housing development. It falls in line with the committee’s second-highest priority to address the lack of workforce housing, which they have studied throughout the interim.
“Because of housing, we can’t keep teachers, snowplow drivers, or doctors and nurses,” said Rep. Jim Roscoe, I-Wilson.
Despite stakeholders showing support for a state housing trust fund, legislators decided only to take action on land banking. There were concerns expressed that the state housing trust fund would be unconstitutional because legislative appropriations for charitable or industrial purposes are not allowed unless the recipient is under control of the state.
“Section 6 prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from loaning or giving credit to guarantee private obligations, and also prohibits these actors from making donations to private individuals or entities except for the necessary support of the poor,” said Legislative Service Office staff attorney Anna Johnson.
A state housing trust fund could be possible, but not by following the original recommendation based on Iowa’s model, which legislative staff attorneys said could be problematic because of the difference in how Wyoming’s trust funds are laid out. Wyoming is one of just three states in the nation without a housing trust fund.
Other housing programs in Wyoming already exist, but legislators hoped to find additional ways to manage the pressure on the market.
The Wyoming Business Ready Community Program doesn’t specifically address workforce housing, but Johnson outlined in a memo how it would be a helpful framework for a program, since it provides loans for infrastructure, economic or educational development projects.
There is the Wyoming Workforce Housing Infrastructure Program, which provides loans for the creation of workforce housing subdivisions or developments. However, the infrastructure must be publicly owned, and doesn’t include the building of actual houses in order to follow state statute.
The Wyoming Community Development Authority was also created for many of the same reasons as the infrastructure program, and provides low-interest mortgage loans and financial education. Opportunities are available for down payment assistance, but it is still a loan.
Land banking
Advocates for a direct approach to solving the affordable housing crisis pushed for land banking. The banks are state-enabled public entities with unique governmental powers “that are solely focused on converting problem properties into productive use according to local community goals.”
“It’s a device, in part, where a municipality can clean up that kind of problem and eventually wind up with a property that is sellable,” said Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper.
Brenda Birkle, executive director of the local nonprofit My Front Door and chair of Cheyenne’s Affordable Housing Taskforce, made her case for the land bank. She played an instrumental role along with Dan Dorsch, special coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County, in identifying tools the Legislature could consider.
In her presentation to the committee, she described the land bank as having special powers, “including the ability to hold land tax-free, clear title, negotiate sales, convey property for other-than-monetary consideration and lease for interim uses.”
It acquires property through the expedited tax foreclosure process, lending institutions and the Department of Housing and Urban Development transferring low-value properties to the land bank, as well as private individuals and probate estates not wanting the burden of owning a property and giving it away. This, in return, can address community blights, increase the number of low- to moderate-income units, increase area property values and provide economic growth.
“Land banks are most commonly established in localities with relatively low or declining housing costs and a sizable inventory of tax-delinquent properties that the community wants to repurpose to support community goals,” according to Local Housing Solutions. “In high-cost localities, however, where there are few tax delinquent properties, land banks can serve as a vehicle for holding land purchased strategically for future affordable housing development.”
Based on the presentation and support from nonprofits, legislators passed a motion for the legislative staff to draft a bill based on Nebraska’s statutes. It would not require an appropriation from the Legislature, but rather develop legislation that enables local entities to develop interagency agreements to establish the land bank.
Housing trust fund
Although the housing trust fund that would have fallen under the Wyoming Community Development Authority’s responsibility was not supported by the majority of the committee, it did take up a significant portion of the discussion.
Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, was a supporter of the housing trust fund, even with the work required make it constitutional. She was unsure whether the bill would move forward, but she encouraged efforts to be made, nonetheless.
“I do think, in light of it being one of our priority topics that this committee has chosen to take up, and hearing the overwhelming testimony from May, which I know we have all forgotten that there is an attainable housing concern – then at least we will have something tangible to work on at some meeting,” she told her fellow Corporations Committee members. “And, unfortunately, it will be our last.”
The wariness among legislators to draft the bill started hours before her call to draft the bill, and not just regarding the legal barriers.
According to the Housing Trust Fund Project, they are distinct funds established by governments that receive ongoing sources of public funding to support the preservation of affordable housing.
“Housing trust funds systemically shift affordable housing funding from annual budget allocations to the commitment of dedicated public revenue,” the advocacy organization wrote. “While housing trust funds can also be a repository for private donations, they are not public/private partnerships, nor are they endowed funds operating from interest and other earnings.”
Birkle said money from a statewide trust fund could go into local housing trust funds to create local control, and millions could be used to address housing issues. She said it could be used as gap funding for projects, to acquire and redevelop properties or land, to teach financial literacy and housing counseling, or for down payment assistance for homebuyers that are of low to moderate income.
“The good news is it’s customizable,” she told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle days before she went before the committee.
In order to implement it in Wyoming, it could be placed under the authority of agencies such as the WCDA and the Wyoming Business Council.
However, the WBC didn’t want to take on the housing affordability tool, and leadership argued its focus should be in expanding the workforce.
“The Business Council’s job is to create a housing problem. And I say that, in all seriousness, and I don’t mean to be flippant about it, but it is actually our job to create an environment where businesses can thrive, where businesses can grow,” WBC CEO Josh Dorrell testified Friday. “Housing is one component of it, but, ultimately, it’s our job to create the pressure. That creates a housing problem. And if we stay focused on that, we can create enough pressure, we can create enough of a housing problem, that will make us attractive to developers.”
Dorrell was supported by staff from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, who argued the agency should stay in line with its duties and not take on the housing trust fund. Policy advisor Ivy McGowan-Castleberry said the governor expressed that he feels very strongly that the Business Council has a mission, that they need to work on activating new economic opportunities, and that the framework and expertise for a housing trust fund don’t currently exist.
Some lawmakers questioned whether companies would be deterred from moving into the state if there wasn’t housing, or why the private sector was having difficulty developing enough properties. Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, stepped in to defend the private sector, and said his colleagues were forgetting how well it worked.
“I don’t think we should be so short and frustrated with what the private sector has accomplished and say, ‘Well, it’s not working right now, let’s create a program,’” he said. “I think there’s complementariness that we can pursue.”
Lawmakers will continue to try to find that balance at the next Corporations Committee Oct. 13-14. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/economy_and_labor/committee-supports-land-bank-housing-solution/article_79210cf2-288b-11ed-9d70-472cac346365.html | 2022-08-30T19:18:10Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/economy_and_labor/committee-supports-land-bank-housing-solution/article_79210cf2-288b-11ed-9d70-472cac346365.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
After enacting a series of at-times contentious changes to city zoning and housing regulations, Laramie officials are preparing to enter a new phase in their push to create more local affordable housing options.
Over the past seven years, the city has collected and worked out multiple pieces of research showing a need to broaden housing access in the community.
Data shows that 54% of renters and 30% of homeowners are cost burdened by their current living situations, City Planning Manager Derek Teini told the Laramie City Council last week.
The city began taking initial steps to address the problem in 2020, researching and ultimately issuing a range of zoning changes aimed at encouraging development, such as reducing minimum lot size requirements, allowing the construction of accessible dwelling units and easing up on garage regulations.
Other recent changes, such as requiring builders to submit to a permitting process and creating a set of minimum habitability standards for rental housing, focus on increasing the quality of existing housing.
Now, the city plans to explore a more hands-on approach by potentially creating an urban renewal authority or using a tax increment financing method to encourage development in certain areas of the city.
Building back
Urban renewal authorities have historically brought mixed reactions and results to communities over time. URAs are statutory bodies formed with the intention of removing instances of “blight” in areas that are developed or have the potential for further development.
“Blight” could refer to various issues such as unfinished or broken roadways or failing infrastructure, Teini said.
Methods of resolving these issues can vary depending on the procedures of a specific URA and the situation, and could range from collaborative projects with property owners to condemning a property altogether.
The official process to create a local URA is likely to come before City Council in September, said Assistant City Manager Todd Feezer. If approved, it would likely be active by January.
City leaders said they expect public transparency and thoughtfulness to be a part of any potential URA decisions.
“Every member of council is not interested in pursuing rules that are going to put existing developing areas and property areas in a bad place where they might be struggling,” said Mayor Paul Weaver. “What we’re not trying to do is encourage a gentrifying policy in the city of Laramie.”
An important part of the process will be ensuring the city creates its policy structures in a way that avoids the pitfalls of URAs in other communities, said Laramie City Manager Janine Jordan.
Feezer explained that a URA could help create opportunities for new development in the city by focusing on demolition and reconstruction in areas that are already abandoned, such as the former Slade Elementary School building.
Finding money
City staff are also conducting intensive research on the process of tax increment financing to promote development in unused areas.
This funding structure, also known as TIF, allows cities to pay for development work up front and then make up for that spending by collecting the increase in property taxes applied to areas that benefit from the development.
This payment structure is one of the few tools communities with lower income rates across the population have at their disposal, Jordan said.
Some potential areas of city-owned property that could be developed using a TIF structure include lots on Crystal Court and the Turner Tract, Feezer said. The property along North 4th Street that the city vacated in a move to its new Public Works facility could be reimagined to be a mixed-use residential and retail area that could provide 70-200 residences.
TIF has not been used in Laramie before, Feezer said. The process would include vetting from the Laramie Planning Commission and City Council, which includes opportunity for public comment.
Long wait for improvement
With even small changes to zoning ordinances causing turbulence in the community, city staff and council members discussed the importance of public input and research in the process of considering new housing expansion approaches.
“Those changes that were made over the last two years are a significant amount of changes to housing,” Teini said. “There are communities across the West that would love to have just one part of those changes done in the last two or three years. I think it shows as a community our desire to provide that option.”
In an online survey of Laramie residents this year, 56% of respondents said they are in favor of the city playing a role in increasing housing options, Jordan said.
She said residents have been asking the city to address housing issues for nearly a decade.
“This is not a static process,” Weaver said. “It’s going to require looking at policies and deciding whether or not they’re a good thing for Laramie.” | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/economy_and_labor/housing-dilemma-laramie-searches-for-missing-middle/article_93385a32-288b-11ed-8a5c-ab849caccfc6.html | 2022-08-30T19:18:11Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/economy_and_labor/housing-dilemma-laramie-searches-for-missing-middle/article_93385a32-288b-11ed-8a5c-ab849caccfc6.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Lawmakers, looking to alleviate Wyoming’s mental health professional shortage, are considering measures that would make it easier for practitioners to work across state lines.
The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services committee considered two draft bills this month that would allow the state to join interstate psychology and counseling compacts. By enabling professionals licensed in one compact state to practice in all compact states, advocates say the agreements would give Wyoming patients access to more counselors and psychologists, and give Wyoming providers access to larger markets.
Wyoming residents could connect virtually with a counselor in Denver, for example, or a University of Wyoming student going home for the summer could continue treatment with a Laramie-based psychologist. The expansion of mental health care options is especially appealing in a rural state where the per-capita suicide rate is often the highest in the nation.
Advocates of the bill say state licensure requirements can be prohibitively time consuming, costly and ultimately discourage psychologists and counselors from going through the process. Skeptics, however, are concerned joining the compacts could wrest regulatory control away from the state and cost mental health professionals clients.
The non-profit advocacy group Mental Health America ranked Wyoming last in its 2022 state of mental health report because of a dangerous combination of factors: a high prevalence of mental illness and poor access to care.
There’s been a shadow pandemic of behavioral health issues taking place across the country, said Julia Harris, senior policy analyst for the health policy project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “There’s been some of the highest rates of overdose that have ever happened in this country during the pandemic. There’s growing anxiety and depression because of the pandemic pressures.”
“The demand is way up,” said Casper-based psychologist and Wyoming Psychological Association president Donald Benson. “Part of that has been the pandemic and the stress people have been under.”
“My phone’s ringing off the hook,” Cheyenne-based counselor Lindsay Simineo said. It’s been a long time since she’s had an opening in her schedule.
“We do not want our Wyoming counselors getting to the point where they are so burned out by the overwhelming need, they walk away from the profession,” Simineo said. “So that additional workforce from out of state is going to be hugely important in supporting our current mental health workforce.”
Simineo also lobbies on behalf of the Wyoming Association of Counselors, which supports joining the counseling compact.
Need is outstripping the supply of mental health professionals, but the two compacts provide a potential way to alleviate that stress. Plus, joining them could make Wyoming a more attractive place for specialists to live and work.
Utah joined both the psychology and counseling compacts in the last few years.
Anna Lieber, licensed clinical mental health counselor and president of the Utah Mental Health Counselors Association, points to Logan, Utah’s proximity to the Idaho border as a prime example of the compacts’ benefits. “Most therapists in Logan have to be licensed in both Idaho and Utah,” Lieber said. “Which is a financial burden.”
“With COVID, we realized we could use telehealth a little more efficiently and better,” said Amanda Alkema, assistant director of substance abuse for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s really helped in our rural areas to expand that.”
She noted that Mountain West states are often competing for the same workforce, and the compacts allow for more collaboration and shared expertise.
Wyoming has joined several compacts in the past few years, noted Wyoming Hospital Association president Eric Boley. Physician and nursing compacts proved particularly helpful during the pandemic. Nurses and physicians from participating compact states were able to work in Wyoming without going through an arduous licensing process.
“We haven’t seen any downside to this at all,” Boley said. “It’s all been really positive.”
The Wyoming Psychological Association has yet to take an official position on the compact, Benson said.
“There absolutely are people that worry that the people in other compact states will cherry pick patients from Wyoming,” Benson said. “And that will cut into the livelihoods of psychologists here.”
Additionally, some worry about states losing regulatory control over their counselors and psychologists.
“And when it comes to the Legislature,” Boley of the Hospital Association said, “there’s always concern about oversight and who’s ultimately responsible for making sure that they’re good practitioners, and they’re adhering to all the rules and regulations and guidance.”
However, he also said that the previously enacted physician and nursing compacts haven’t resulted in substandard care. “There’s still oversight and they’re still licensed in their home states,” Boley said.
The compact is just one important step forward, said Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers executive director Andi Summerville. “But we still need people on the ground in Wyoming. Telehealth is wonderful, but it’s not a panacea.”
She says the state should still focus on growing the number of counselors who live and work in Wyoming and improving pay.
Summerville is supportive of the psychology and counseling compacts and the potential for more telehealth options.
“It’s important to recognize that that’s the way the country is moving in general,” Summerville said. “And without being part of the compact, it creates barriers for folks to come practice in our state.”
The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services committee voted to move forward with the draft bills and formally finalize them in its next meeting. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/government_and_politics/wyoming-mulls-joining-mental-health-care-compacts/article_b003ba1c-288b-11ed-bc46-07f5247040da.html | 2022-08-30T19:18:11Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/government_and_politics/wyoming-mulls-joining-mental-health-care-compacts/article_b003ba1c-288b-11ed-bc46-07f5247040da.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MIAMI, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) announced today its plan to implement SpaceX's Starlink – making the Group the first in the cruise industry to adopt its high-speed, low-latency connectivity for a better onboard experience for guests and crew fleetwide. The innovative broadband internet service will be installed on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of the brands.
Deployment of the Starlink technology across the fleet will begin immediately, leveraging the insights obtained from the trial onboard Freedom of the Seas, which has received tremendous positive feedback from guests and crew. The installation is slated to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
"Our purpose as a company is to deliver the best vacation experiences to our guests responsibly, and this new offering, which is the biggest public deployment of Starlink's high-speed internet in the travel industry so far, demonstrates our commitment to that purpose," said Jason Liberty, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Group. "This technology will provide game-changing internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for guests and crew alike. It will improve and enable more high-bandwidth activities like video streaming as well as activities like video calls. Using Starlink is one more example of our continued focus on innovation and excellence for our guests, our crew, the communities we visit and our shareholders."
Faster and more reliable internet will also make it easier for guests and crew to remain connected to work, family and friends – no matter where they are in the world.
"Royal Caribbean Group selecting Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency internet across their fleet will make their passengers' getaways even more luxurious," said SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Sales Jonathan Hofeller. "We couldn't be more excited to work with Royal Caribbean Group to ensure travelers at sea can stay connected with a great internet experience."
"Our work with SpaceX is another example of how Royal Caribbean Group continues to lead the cruise industry in innovation and adoption of cutting-edge technology," Liberty added.
About Royal Caribbean Group
Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is one of the leading cruise companies in the world with a global fleet of 64 ships traveling to approximately 1,000 destinations around the world. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three award winning cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises and it is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, the brands have an additional 10 ships on order as of June 30, 2022. Learn more at www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com
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SOURCE Royal Caribbean Group | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/royal-caribbean-group-use-spacexs-starlink-an-industry-first-provide-high-speed-internet-onboard-full-cruise-fleet/ | 2022-08-30T19:18:34Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/royal-caribbean-group-use-spacexs-starlink-an-industry-first-provide-high-speed-internet-onboard-full-cruise-fleet/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Maj. Brian Knott, Public Health Command-Pacific’s chief entomologist, has been selected to attend the prestigious Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Service Chief’s Fellows Program.
Knott, assigned to PHC-P’s Public Health Activity-Fort Lewis, is the only entomologist, Medical Service Corps area of concentration 72B, in program history to have been selected for the highly competitive broadening assignment.
Knott’s journey to become an Army entomologist was a unique one, he said.
“I worked for a family pest control business for over 20 years prior to joining the Army,” said Knott. “It was natural for me become an Army entomologist, because of my extensive experience in pesticide and herbicide through the business, which provided the strong foundation required for a 72B.”
Joining the Army was like starting a second career, Knott said, but he knew his prior experience would be critical to supporting the modern warfighter.
Knott’s grandfather, James I. Knott, was an Army doctor who served in the Pacific during World War II. His grandfather’s service inspired Knott to become an Army entomologist, he said.
“My grandfather had many entomology-related experiences throughout his Army career, like treating elephantiasis, also known as lymphatic filariasis, and he used fly maggots to clean wounds,” said Knott.
Now, 15 years after joining the Army, Knott will have the opportunity to expand his already extensive entomology and leadership capabilities through the DARPA SCFP.
Over the three-month course, DARPA Fellows dive deep into specific technology development in areas of interest to them and to their respective service, as well as a chance to understand the breadth of DARPA research.
Knott’s area of interest is pest management generally, and mosquitoes specifically.
“While obtaining my Master of Science in public health at the Uniformed Services University, I studied the mosquito bite through resistance of the Army Combat Uniform treated with repellent,” said Knott. “My last duty station was in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, working as a researcher with U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate-Georgia and this inspired me to continue working in the research field.”
Knott also draws entomology and research inspiration from another Army doctor - Walter Reed.
In 1901, Reed led experiments that proved yellow fever is transmitted through mosquito bites. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was named in Reed’s honor.
“Walter Reed’s discovery was a dramatic leap in knowledge and led to many new strategies for diseases like yellow fever and malaria, including insect repellents, pesticide use, and permethrin-treated uniforms, that are still around today,” said Knott.
Knott begins his fellowship next month.
“I’m looking forward to immersing myself in research and bringing this knowledge back to the Armed Forces Pest Management Board to improve our research, development, testing and evaluation requirements for vector and pest management,” Knott said.
This work, PHC-P Soldier is First Entomologist Selected for DARPA Fellowship, by Kathryne Gest, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428319/phc-p-soldier-first-entomologist-selected-darpa-fellowship | 2022-08-30T19:18:40Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428319/phc-p-soldier-first-entomologist-selected-darpa-fellowship | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Newly arrived Chaplain (Col.) Thomas Brooks took the reins this summer as the Defense Logistics Agency’s ecclesiastical support program manager and religious support provider.
Spiritual observances and religious holidays such as Passover and Easter call for specific items, from Seder kits and kosher meals to palms and ashes, but items like halal meals are needed all year long, Brooks said. He’s working with representatives of DLA Troop Support’s clothing and textiles supply chain and learning more about what goes into procuring and shipping about 500 items.
“Sometimes DLA Troop Support has gone through extraordinary lengths to be able to get supplies in the right hands at the right times,” he said.
Brooks said he’s also looking to develop a monthly series to help uplift the workforce, promote wellness through spirituality and reduce suicide. Studies show that practicing spirituality can help people improve health and happiness, enhance feelings of connection, decrease depression, and lower rates of substance abuse and risk taking, he said.
“One of the things I like people to understand is that we’re all spiritual beings,” Brooks said. “I’m not here to force my faith on anyone, but to help people in the way they want to be helped. I help them realize that we’re better off when we exercise that part of us that is spiritual. Just like we take care of our nutrition, we get exercise, we take care of our mental health, we try to get enough sleep – we’re also better off when we exercise our spirituality.”
Brooks had what he called a “slow start” to becoming a chaplain. He considered joining the military but followed his calling to become a Protestant minister instead. While getting the necessary training and education, Brooks met with a friend who was training to be an Army chaplain. The friend’s positive experience made Brooks reconsider his career choice.
“That was a new concept to me. I could be a minister, but also be in the military,” Brooks said.
He entered the Army in 1999, completed the Chaplain Officer Basic Course and served as a reservist with the 58th Transportation Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
“I really, really loved it because it was the first time I actually did the chaplain job,” Brooks said.
After finishing his active reserve tour with the 312th Field Hospital in North Carolina, he married his wife, Maribel, on Nov. 22, 2002, and reported for active duty three days later as a battalion chaplain at Fort Hood, Texas.
Four months later, Brooks was deployed to Kuwait and then Iraq while his wife was home and pregnant with their son, David. Seventy soldiers from his battalion earned Purple Hearts and two were killed in action, Brooks said.
“It was a very tough year, as I was essentially new to the Army, newly married, and I missed the birth of our son,” he said. “I’m thankful for the sustaining grace of God in the midst of that, as well as the amazing people I served with.”
Before coming to DLA, he served as one of two chaplains at the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he helped 30,000 cadets and 4,000 cadre members with their religious and spiritual needs.
His time with the USACC coincided with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cadets usually train in person and thrive on the camaraderie, but the isolation of the pandemic took a toll and his workload increased, Brooks said.
Cadets normally went to Fort Knox for summer training, but due to COVID-19, they met regionally in smaller groups during the summer of 2020, Brooks said.
“We’re not built to live this life completely alone,” he said. “Friends, colleagues, coworkers – those types of connections that can help someone go through a difficult time – the cadets didn’t have that. They didn’t have people who would notice if something was wrong, because when you're at home, only a limited few can see you.”
Chaplains also serve as military religious leaders and staff advisors.
“We advise command and staff on morals, morale, ethical issues and the impact of religion on all aspects of military operations,” he said.
Brooks can be reached via email or through the DLA Service Portal by searching the catalog tab at the top of the page and clicking on the “Chaplain Request” button
This work, New DLA chaplain looks to encourage spirituality, wellness, by Nancy Benecki, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428328/new-dla-chaplain-looks-encourage-spirituality-wellness | 2022-08-30T19:19:00Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428328/new-dla-chaplain-looks-encourage-spirituality-wellness | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Airmen from the 139th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s petroleum, oils, and lubricants office conducted a ‘wet-wing’ defuel operation at Rosecrans for the first time on Aug. 16, 2022.
“This process is new to the Air Force and allows aircraft to defuel while the engines are running,” said Senior Master Sgt. Ed Sollars, fuels superintendent assigned to the 139th LRS.
Two POL Airmen received certification training at Rosecrans from the Connecticut Air National Guard in order to conduct the so-called wet-wing defuel, which is considered a special fueling operation. Those Airmen can now train the rest of the shop or other units that need certification, said Sollars.
The event consisted of class room training followed by a walk-through during daylight hours. The session was also performed at night to provide Airmen the experience of limited visibility operations.
This procedure supports the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept by using existing weapon systems to fuel the fight on forward operating bases.
“They could drop a C-130 off at a remote location where you didn't have a bulk [fuel] storage,” said Sollars. “You could get fuel from certain aircraft and refuel helicopters or fighters.”
There are also requirements on the aircrew side, said Sollas.
“It’s all part of ACE…and part of the operations group's plans to get certified on [this training].”
This work, Fuels Airmen perform ‘wet-wing’ defuel for first time, by Michael Crane, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428329/fuels-airmen-perform-wet-wing-defuel-first-time | 2022-08-30T19:19:06Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428329/fuels-airmen-perform-wet-wing-defuel-first-time | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Exercise operations are shown Aug. 11, 2022, at Fort McCoy, Wis., for the 86th Training Division's Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 86-22-02.
The exercise took place in August 2022 at Fort McCoy at various locations throughout the installation. Around 4,000 service members participated in the exercise.
The CSTX is a joint training event executed in a live, virtual, and constructive integrated training environment where service members test their tactical and technical skills.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
This work, Photo Essay: Operations for 86th Training Division’s Combat Training Support Training Exercise 86-22-02, Part III, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428333/photo-essay-operations-86th-training-divisions-combat-training-support-training-exercise-86-22-02-part-iii | 2022-08-30T19:19:12Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428333/photo-essay-operations-86th-training-divisions-combat-training-support-training-exercise-86-22-02-part-iii | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Steve Carell stars as a therapist who is abducted by a murderer. By the time The Patient is over, nearly everyone in this drama series reflects upon past actions and decisions — or dies trying.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air
Steve Carell stars as a therapist who is abducted by a murderer. By the time The Patient is over, nearly everyone in this drama series reflects upon past actions and decisions — or dies trying.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air | https://www.klcc.org/movies-tv/2022-08-30/in-treatment-meets-dexter-in-hbos-psychological-thriller-the-patient | 2022-08-30T19:19:35Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/movies-tv/2022-08-30/in-treatment-meets-dexter-in-hbos-psychological-thriller-the-patient | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Haden grew up singing in his family's country music radio shows but turned to the bass when polio damaged his vocal cords. He died in 2014. Originally broadcast between 1983 and 2008.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air
Haden grew up singing in his family's country music radio shows but turned to the bass when polio damaged his vocal cords. He died in 2014. Originally broadcast between 1983 and 2008.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air | https://www.klcc.org/npr-music-news/2022-08-30/fresh-airs-summer-music-interviews-jazz-great-charlie-haden | 2022-08-30T19:19:41Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-music-news/2022-08-30/fresh-airs-summer-music-interviews-jazz-great-charlie-haden | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Haden grew up singing in his family's country music radio shows but turned to the bass when polio damaged his vocal cords. He died in 2014. Originally broadcast between 1983 and 2008.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air
Haden grew up singing in his family's country music radio shows but turned to the bass when polio damaged his vocal cords. He died in 2014. Originally broadcast between 1983 and 2008.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air | https://www.klcc.org/npr-music-news/2022-08-30/fresh-airs-summer-music-interviews-jazz-great-charlie-haden | 2022-08-30T19:19:41Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-music-news/2022-08-30/fresh-airs-summer-music-interviews-jazz-great-charlie-haden | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TalkingPoints' Heejae Lim was one of 20 change-makers — and the only
education leader — selected through the TED Fellows Program
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TalkingPoints, an education technology nonprofit, shared the release of the TED Talk delivered by its founder and CEO, Heejae Lim. The 5-minute speech titled, The most powerful yet overlooked resource in schools, argues that the most powerful and underutilized resource in American public education is a family's love for their children, and schools can remove barriers and facilitate meaningful connections that lead to improved outcomes for students.
Lim connects her childhood, where her mom served as the unofficial cultural translator for her fellow Korean immigrants in her school, with her vision of creating a technology platform that makes it easier for vital school family partnerships to occur.
"We're playing the role my mom had for the school and my friends' families — the communicator, the explainer, the coach, the translator, and the go-between. And, since my mum cannot be everywhere — I mean no parent can, and it's not for lack of trying — we step in and reach millions of families and schools. When teachers and families work together EVERYONE wins. Students are supported, families are empowered, and teachers' jobs become easier."
In U.S. schools, 40 million children, or four in five students, come from underserved or immigrant families. On average, underserved children will fall behind by two school years, costing the US economy nearly a trillion dollars every year. But smart, targeted engagement can reverse this trend and support families and students.
By removing cultural and linguistic barriers, Lim argues that schools can reach all families and work in partnership to support student learning and improve academic outcomes.
"A parent is a child's first teacher and children spend 80% of their waking hours outside the classroom… Families ARE the game-changer! Still, almost everywhere, education just focuses on how and what schools can do. So here's the trillion-dollar question: How can we better tap into the incredible potential of families and their universal love for their children?"
Lim was the only education leader selected as part of the class of 2022 TED Fellows Program, which includes 20 change-makers from around the world.
"It's been humbling and inspiring to become part of the TED community and connect with so many like-minded leaders who are working to solve complex social problems," said Lim. "I am hopeful that the large global audience TED provides can help elevate the status of families as a key lever in improving student outcomes not just in the US, but globally," she added.
TalkingPoints is an education technology nonprofit that supports school districts in connecting families and teachers for the success and well-being of each and every student. They do this through instant, two-way, translated messages in more than 125 languages, powered by human translators and artificial intelligence.
TED videos on education rank among some of the most popular videos in their catalog. In fact, the most popular TED talk of all time is Sir Ken Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity" which has been viewed more than 73 million times on the TED website.
TalkingPoints is an education technology nonprofit that supports school districts in connecting families and teachers for the success and well-being of each and every student. TalkingPoints' multilingual platform uses two-way translated communication and personalized content in more than 125 languages in order to facilitate meaningful family-school partnerships. This unique approach is driven by a relentless focus on eliminating barriers to strong family-school partnerships, including language, time, mindsets, and capacity. For additional information about TalkingPoints, please visit www.talkingpts.org.
View original content:
SOURCE TalkingPoints | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/ed-tech-leader-delivers-powerful-ted-talk-role-families-school/ | 2022-08-30T19:21:31Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/ed-tech-leader-delivers-powerful-ted-talk-role-families-school/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The AUDUSD started the New York session as one of the strongest of the major currencies. At the highs the pair tested the 38.2% at 0.69537, but found sellers. The bullish fortunes reversed with the price moving back below the 100 and 200 hour MA (blue and green lines) That increased the selling and the selling did not stop until reaching toward the lows from yesterday at 0.68409. The low price reached 0.6844 just ahead of that level.
Helping the run to the downside was a sharp reversal in stocks They are down for the 3rd day in a row. Yields also started to move back to the upside after trading lower earlier.
Going into the new day a move below 0.68409 would increase the bearish bias and open the door for further downside momentum. Watch the 0.6858 level on the topside as a close barometer for bullish or bearish. If the recent move to the downside cannot stay below that level for an extended time. We could see a rotation back to the upside with 0.6870 and 0.68847 has next upside targets to get to and through. | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/audusd-tumbles-lower-but-finds-some-support-near-yesterdays-low-20220830/ | 2022-08-30T19:23:20Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/audusd-tumbles-lower-but-finds-some-support-near-yesterdays-low-20220830/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WALLA WALLA, Wash.-
The Walla Walla Police Department confirmed that they removed a dead adult body from Jefferson Park on Monday, August, 29th.
Detectives are investigating this case.
This is a developing story, which means information could change. We are working to report timely and accurate information as we get it. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/body-found-in-walla-walla-park/article_6ef79c3e-288e-11ed-81a5-6fcba95afc30.html | 2022-08-30T19:24:30Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/body-found-in-walla-walla-park/article_6ef79c3e-288e-11ed-81a5-6fcba95afc30.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
RICHLAND, Wash.-
The 26th annual Tumbleweed Music Festival returns to Howard Amon Park in Richland this weekend.
The three day festival kick off Friday at 6:30 p.m. and features full days of events on Saturday and Sunday, September 3rd and 4th, starting at 11 a.m. each day.
The event is free and features live music, singing, dancing, workshops, and craft and food vendors. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/tumbleweed-musical-festival-in-richland-this-weekend/article_15fc7452-2888-11ed-94dc-eb7fc6f66bc8.html | 2022-08-30T19:24:36Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/tumbleweed-musical-festival-in-richland-this-weekend/article_15fc7452-2888-11ed-94dc-eb7fc6f66bc8.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WALLA WALLA, Wash.-
The annual Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days Parade will have a new route this year and the Kids Parade will return.
Due to construction in the downtown area, the parade will begin at Alder and 4th Street and then proceed east to Spokane St, then north to Main St, and then west to 7th.
The Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days Parade will be Saturday, September, 3rd, at 10 a.m.
The Kids Parade returns this year and participants are asked to gather at the corner of Main and Spokane in front of the Walla Walla Bread Company.
On site registration begins at 9 a.m. and a parent or guardian must be present for a child to participate.
Entries for the Kids Parade can be made in the following categories: costume, pets, hot wheels, small floats, and group.
The Kids Parade starts at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, September 3rd. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/walla-walla-fair-parade-to-travel-new-route/article_e0be5856-287c-11ed-b209-df6ca10f1f50.html | 2022-08-30T19:24:42Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/walla-walla-fair-parade-to-travel-new-route/article_e0be5856-287c-11ed-b209-df6ca10f1f50.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
YAKIMA, Wash.-
The Yakima County Sheriff's Office is alerting the community to a phone scam where the caller is posing as Sergeant Carl Hendrickson.
The caller tries to get people to discuss important court documents over the phone. The YCSO isn't sure what the goals of the scam are, but that it probably comes down to the caller trying to get money from whoever answers.
If anyone needs assistance they should not provide information to someone calling them, instead they should call the YCSO at 509-574-2500. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/ycso-warns-of-phone-scam/article_eb246992-2878-11ed-a2f0-c7998a379471.html | 2022-08-30T19:24:48Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/ycso-warns-of-phone-scam/article_eb246992-2878-11ed-a2f0-c7998a379471.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Mostly sunny and hot today. Morning temperatures in the upper 50s-60s, near 90 by noon and afternoon highs in the mid 90s-100. If we hit 100 today in the Tri-Cities that will make 27 days at or above 100 degrees, this summer. That will break the old record of 26 days in 1898!
They're back... Triple digits. A strong ridge of high pressure is building over the Pacific Northwest and this will send temperatures into the upper 90s-low 100s through Friday. The latest satellite does show a weak disturbance moving into Oregon this morning. It may trigger a stray shower/t-storm in the southern Blues between 4-6 pm. Another weak disturbance will move through the ridge on Wednesday with a slight chance for a stray shower/t-storm over the Cascades. Winds will also increase across the region during the afternoon-evening with gusts 20-30 mph. The fire danger will be elevated as the hot and dry conditions continue through Friday.
Heat Advisory - Until 11 PM Wednesday
- Stay hydrated
- Take breaks and cool down
- Remember pets
- Will likely extend Advisory through Friday
Possible Record Heat and other "Fun" Heat Facts
- Most 100s in a Summer... Tri-Cities forecast high today: 100 - If that happens today will be 27 Days at or above 100 this summer, breaking the old record of 26 in 1898
- Record High... Tri-Cities forecast Wednesday: 103 - Record 103 in 1967
- Record High... Yakima forecast Wednesday: 100 - Record 97 in 1998
- Record High... Tri-Cities forecast Thursday: 102 - Record 101 in 1998
- Record High... Tri-Cities forecast Friday: 102 - Record 100 in 1998
- Thursday (September 1) forecasted highs in the upper 90s-low 100s. The last time we saw a September 100 in the Tri-Cities it was 24 years ago (9/2/1998). It was even longer for Yakima 34 years (9/3/1988)
Models are showing a little cooling trend this weekend as a dry cool front pushes the ridge east. Highs dropping into the low-mid 90s, but this is STILL 10 degrees above average. Breezy winds will continue on Saturday and the 90s will hang around through early next week. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/record-heat/article_03b3f02c-2879-11ed-9e41-5b6e7bfbb618.html | 2022-08-30T19:24:54Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/record-heat/article_03b3f02c-2879-11ed-9e41-5b6e7bfbb618.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
AUSTIN (KXAN/NEXSTAR) — Which restroom will take the throne in a competition for America’s ‘Best Restroom’? The suspense is leaving the country on the edge of its seat.
Cintas — a corporation that supplies uniforms, cleaning products and restroom supplies to businesses — is currently accepting votes for the America’s Best Restroom Contest, an annual celebration of the most eye-catching or otherwise interesting facilities in the country. Now in its 21st year, the contest aims to crown 2022’s “Best Restroom” from a pool of finalists that include restaurant restrooms, watering-hole washrooms and even airport lavatories.
“The public holds higher standards for the cleanliness and technology used in public restrooms which is why we’re proud to recognize these businesses that maintain clean and exceptional facilities,” said Julia Messinger, the marketing manager at Cintas, in a recent press release.
The bathrooms selected as finalists were deemed to be especially elegant or eclectic, and chosen for their cleanliness and aesthetic allure, according to Cintas.
This year’s finalists, in alphabetical order, are located at:
- Delaware Botanic Gardens, in Dagsboro, Delaware, where the bathroom incorporates garden elements and floor-to-ceiling windows to showcase the outdoors
- Eberly, a restaurant in Austin, Texas, with bathrooms that feature a “vacancy” light on the exterior of each stall door
- Headlands Lodge and Spa, in Pacific City, Oregon, where restroom visitors are treated to a “spa-like feel,” according to Cintas
- La Patisserie, a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina, which earned a spot thanks to its bathrooms’ chandeliers and fully enclosed stalls
- Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, where the all-gender restroom in Terminal B offers “potty parity for all,” Cintas says
- No. 5 Bistro and Bar, in Sedalia, Missouri, where the bathrooms are said to pay homage to a historic building
- North Hollywood Recreation Center, in California, with lavatories that feature self-cleaning capabilities
- Stone Mountain Public House, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where the washroom takes on a “fun, prohibition theme”
- Tampa International Airport, in Florida, in the Airside C section, where the bathroom is decorated with images of Florida’s fauna
- Tori Tori, a restaurant in Orlando, which features restroom flower arrangements perfect for “mirror selfies and photos,” Cintas says
Voting for America’s “Best Restroom” is open through Aug. 31 at BestRestroom.com. The winner will be honored with a place in the America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame, as well as a restroom cleaning service and $2,500 in facility services or future restroom cleanings.
“While most people would likely characterize their trip to the restroom as a fairly unremarkable experience, we at Cintas think it should be unforgettable,” Cintas writes of its annual contest. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/contest-to-crown-best-restroom-in-america-have-a-look-at-the-10-finalists/ | 2022-08-30T19:28:27Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/contest-to-crown-best-restroom-in-america-have-a-look-at-the-10-finalists/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In this piece, we’ll use TipRanks’ Comparison Tool to look at three Strong Buy-rated Dow Jones stocks — DIS, MCD, and MSFT — that may already have the worst baked in, with the means to rally in the face of a recession.
After such an impressive run off June lows, the Dow Jones Industrial Average seems to be in a spot to give up a chunk of the gains. While nobody knows how low the current post-rally breather will drag down markets, I do think analysts are less inclined to lower their price targets on the more resilient firms that have stood their ground this year.
Understandably, a recession (or anticipation of an economic downturn) will eat away at the impressive growth numbers posted when the economy was red-hot for most of 2021. With the Fed pulling the brakes on the economy, many firms are bound to crumble amid mounting macro pressures and a more selective consumer.
Still, not all firms are created equally. Many large-cap blue-chip companies may be positioned to make the most of the relatively mild recession that could be in the cards. The Dow Jones is a rather weird price-weighted index, with a relatively small sample (30) of well-established companies.
While the Dow may not be a good representation of the broader stock market, it does hold many intriguing “value” options that could persevere in this rate and growth-driven market sell-off.
Disney (DIS)
Disney has already been through one of the worst headwind hailstorms in its history. COVID-19 lockdowns crushed the parks and amusements business as the company scrambled to bring entertainment to locked-down households with its video-streaming platform Disney+.
As lockdowns lifted and America returned to normal, excitement in video-streaming eventually faded. Streaming isn’t cutting-edge anymore. It’s just another medium to reach the consumer, and an expensive one at that.
While streaming hype has died down, Disney’s streaming growth has not. With subscriber growth momentum, the trio of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ makes Disney the new king of streaming. In any case, investors seem to think the streaming wars are over as we approach a recession.
Though streaming is no longer innovative, I do think the streaming market has been overly punished. As we exit the recession, consumers will begin spending money on subscriptions again. Streamers like Disney will become more creative at reducing industry churn rates, whether that be through ultra-long series or “stacked” content pipelines; I do think the negativity surrounding streaming is overdone.
With Disney+ continuing to grow while parks continue to flex their muscles, it’s hard not to be upbeat on Disney stock as it look to rebound from one of its worst plunges (around 53%) since the Great Recession.
Wall Street thinks Disney is a strong buy, with 16 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months. At 2.6 times sales, DIS stock may very well prove a misunderstood bargain, as parks and streaming continue to exhibit strength for a change. The average DIS stock price target of $139.28 implies 24.2% upside potential.
McDonald’s (MCD)
McDonald’s is an American icon with a stock that’s proven to be a great hiding place for recession-rattled investors. Shares of MCD have held their own far better than the market averages, helping the Dow hang onto some relative outperformance versus the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
At writing, the fast-food pioneer trades at a hefty 31.7 times trailing earnings and 8.1 times sales. That’s more expensive than many high-growth tech stocks. Though McDonald’s is an old-school, recession-resilient firm with an easy-to-understand business model, CEO Chris Kempczinski has shown an old dog can learn new tricks.
With intriguing celebrity collaborations and the willingness to experiment with new menu items (think the Chicken-based Big Mac), McDonald’s is increasingly relevant to young and hip audiences.
McDonald’s isn’t just ready to continue generating ample free cash flow as recession tides move in; it’s ready to take market share. The stock is expensive from a historical perspective, but it deserves to be.
Wall Street’s also lovin’ McDonald’s stock, with 21 Buys and just three Holds. The average MCD stock price forecast suggests 12.6% upside over the year ahead. In a bear market with a recession on the way, such seemingly “average” returns are more than any investor could ask for.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft is a Dow behemoth with a $2 trillion market cap at writing. The software kingpin has found a way to resist the growth-fading effects of old age, thanks in part to its strength in the cloud. Beyond Azure, Microsoft has a hand in many other pies, many of which could evolve to become new growth drivers once the metaverse is ready for the masses.
Specifically, Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division is something to watch as it moves closer to gaining the green light to acquire video-game developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI). Over the years, the company has stealthily changed the video-game industry with its Xbox Game Pass offering.
Game Pass is a disruptive force that changes how gamers access content. With one subscription, gamers have access to over a hundred quality titles. As Game Pass improves, with Activision and Blizzard titles that may be added to the service if the Activision Blizzard deal goes through, I think the days of buying individual games could be numbered as subscription offerings continue to strengthen.
For now, Xbox is a relatively small slice of the pie. However, if the metaverse goes mainstream in the latter half of the decade, Xbox could power sustainable double-digit growth, as Azure has been doing.
Microsoft is a firm that continues to evolve while using its size (and pocketbook) to its advantage. With a recession looming, economic jabs and hooks will be flying Microsoft’s way, but it’s far better able to roll with the punches than many of its smaller peers.
Wall Street remains bullish on Microsoft and its ability to grow through tough times, with 28 Buys and two Holds. Analysts have an average MSFT stock price target of $325.77, which implies 24.4% upside potential.
Conclusion – Analysts Expect the Most from MSFT Stock
Disney, McDonald’s, and Microsoft are some of analysts’ favorite stocks in the Dow. Of the three names, Microsoft seems to have the most year-ahead upside potential, with 24.4% gains expected. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/these-3-dow-jones-stocks-are-strong-buys-on-wall-street | 2022-08-30T19:34:05Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/these-3-dow-jones-stocks-are-strong-buys-on-wall-street | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
I like writing – whether it will last on a physical page, if people look beyond its contents – and so am quite happy sharing links or reading comments here in Worddile Blipfolio and on FaceSpace… where comments here can get missed (as Wordflare is less public) you might have a slightly broader reach posting in F-space. So just go there when the words (like many more to share over these days in the UK; you guys get a long one), Being a relatively close neighbor to the Milky Way at 32 million light-years away, M74, otherwise known as the Phantom Galaxy, is a popular target for astronomers.
Using the new powerful Webb Space Telescope, NASA and the European Space Agency provided a stunning look into the galaxy’s hearty.
The ESA said that the galaxy’s lack of gas in its nuclear region provided an unobscured view of the nuclear star cluster at the galaxy’s center. Images also showed filaments of dust and gas in spiral arms around the galaxy.
Previous estimates have said that the galaxy contains 100 billion stars. Because of its orientation and relatively close distance, it is a top galaxy for astronomers to examine.
Although it’s a great galaxy for professionals to study, its magnitude makes it challenging for amateur astronomers to view.
The latest image is among several released by NASA and the ESA since the Webb Telescope began operating earlier this summer. The telescope has allowed scientists to examine galaxies up to 13.1 billion light-years away. The telescope’s spectrograph permits NASA to explore galaxies’ chemical composition.
The Webb telescope is replacing the Hubble telescope as NASA’s primary view of deep space.
NASA released the first set of images from the telescope on July 12. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/webb-telescope-captures-details-of-phantom-galaxy-and-its-100-billion-stars | 2022-08-30T19:35:45Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/webb-telescope-captures-details-of-phantom-galaxy-and-its-100-billion-stars | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
2 hours ago - Technology
Why CEOs need to discuss cyberattacks
Roughly 3 in 4 consumers say it's important for a business leader to discuss or take action against foreign cybersecurity threats, according to recent survey data from Morning Consult.
Why it matters: Many businesses have feared that discussing cybersecurity problems with the public would harm their brand's reputation. This new data suggests the tide could be turning.
By the numbers: 76% of survey respondents said in a series of three monthly surveys this year that it’s either “very” or “somewhat” important for business leaders to discuss or take action against foreign cyberthreats.
- A similar share (75%) said the same about labor rights, while 67% said it was important for leaders to speak out or take action on civil liberties issues.
- The survey was conducted among 2,200 adults in May, June and July, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Between the lines: The results track with the increasing number of executives who have started to publicly discuss cyber incidents affecting their companies.
- SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna has said he is constantly advising leaders on how to speak to the public about their own incidents. Russian hackers infiltrated SolarWinds in 2020 to access the networks of nine federal agencies and about 100 private companies.
- Earlier this year, identity management company Okta received scrutiny for not disclosing a security incident after a well-known cybercrime gang revealed details about it in underground hacking forums. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/ceos-discuss-cyberattacks-survey | 2022-08-30T19:36:51Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/ceos-discuss-cyberattacks-survey | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
24 mins ago - World
Vatican, for first time, says Russia initiated war with Ukraine
The Vatican on Tuesday for the first time explicitly said Russia was the instigator of the war with Ukraine.
Driving the news: "As for the large-scale war in Ukraine, initiated by the Russian Federation, the Holy Father Francis' interventions are clear and unequivocal in condemning it as morally unjust, unacceptable, barbaric, senseless, repugnant, and sacrilegious," the Vatican said in a statement.
- Tuesday statement comes in response to "polemics that have arisen in recent days concerning the words of Pope Francis," the Vatican explained, pointing out that the Pope speaks as "a pastor who defends every human life, and not as a politician."
Context: Last week, the Pope called Daria Dugina, a Russian ultranationalist in support of the invasion of Ukraine, who was killed by a car bomb, an "innocent" victim, per the New York Times.
- Ukraine expressed dismay and "profound disappointment" over the Pope’s words.
- The two countries have accused each other in her killing. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/vatican-russia-instigator-war-ukraine | 2022-08-30T19:37:10Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/vatican-russia-instigator-war-ukraine | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
From Pro Publica:
In the spring of 2009, Elliott Naishtat persuaded his colleagues in the Texas Legislature to pass a bill that he believed would require the state to report court-ordered mental health hospitalizations for Texans of all ages to the national firearms background check system.
Nearly two years had passed since a student with a history of serious mental illness had gone on a deadly shooting rampage that left 32 dead at Virginia Tech. And Naishtat, then a Democratic state representative from Austin, argued that Texas was as vulnerable as Virginia had been to such mass shootings because it didn’t require the reporting of involuntary mental health commitments to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS. Federally licensed dealers are required to check the system before they sell someone a firearm.
“This bill will ultimately save lives, and I hope you’ll give it your most serious consideration,” Naishtat said when he introduced the measure.
But 13 years after the legislation became law, following a string of mass shootings carried out by troubled young men, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune has uncovered a major gap in the law and its implementation.
Despite language in Naishtat’s bill that says local courts should report to the state’s top law enforcement agency any time a judge orders any person, regardless of age, to receive inpatient mental health treatment, the news organizations found that they are not reporting juvenile records because of problems with the way the law was written, vague guidance from the state and conflicts with other Texas laws.
[…]
When it comes to the reporting of adult mental health records, the Texas law has been highly effective. By the end of 2021, the state had sent more than 332,000 mental health records — the sixth-highest number in the country — to the national background check system, according to FBI data.
Unlike adult records, juvenile records are tightly controlled under state law, which includes criminal penalties for officials who release them unlawfully. That has likely contributed to widespread confusion about the reach of the 2009 law, which does not differentiate between adults and minors, said Dru Stevenson, a South Texas College of Law professor whose research focuses on gun violence and regulation.
“Anybody dealing with either health records or juveniles are super skittish about preserving privacy and confidentiality,” he said.
Mike Schneider, a former Harris County juvenile court judge, said the 2009 law fails to account for nuances in the juvenile code. For example, the law requires the reporting of all court-ordered mental health commitments. But Schneider and other juvenile officials say that in many cases juveniles end up in inpatient treatment not through a judge’s order, but via treatment plans agreed to by mental health professionals working on their cases. Additionally, Schneider said he interprets the law to directly address only the mental health commitments of juveniles already in lockup, not those first entering the system.
As a result, he estimated that some 99% of juvenile mental health commitments in the state are not the result of the kinds of judicial orders spelled out in the 2009 law.
“It’s just a really, really, really tiny sliver and would miss most of the people who are juveniles who have court-ordered mental health services,” he said.
The Office of Court Administration convened a task force of clerks, judges and various state officials more than a decade ago to figure out how to increase the number of all mental health records being sent to DPS.
The resulting report, published in 2012, found that “DPS lacks the resources to assist the district and county clerks with reporting mental health information.” It made a number of recommendations for ensuring better reporting across the state, including that OCA distribute a reporting manual to clerks detailing the law’s exact requirements. But neither the report nor the resulting manual addressed the reporting of juvenile records.
The agency has since moved to remedy that.
“Recently, because of increased questions, we decided to update the quick reference table to make it even more clear that juvenile records should be included under those provisions, and an updated FAQ section will be going in the manual,” spokesperson Megan LaVoie wrote in an email last month.
Amid a lack of clear direction, courts across the state aren’t following the law as Naishtat intended.
[…]
Schneider, the former Harris County juvenile judge, said the Legislature should address the narrowness and ambiguity that has resulted in the widespread failure to report juvenile mental health records, though he said such an effort will require lawmakers to answer difficult questions about how to handle sensitive records. In his mind, the law should cover young Texans with troubling histories of bullying, animal cruelty and sexual assault, behavior that foreshadows what experts call “future dangerousness.”
“What do you do with kids who have tortured a cat or a dog or done something really cruel, sexually or not, to another kid?” he said. “Those are, I think, the ones that people really worry about, because that seems to be so strongly correlated with really, really bad outcomes in the future.”
This is a long story with a lot of detail, so go read the rest for yourself. I think I’ve captured the main points in my excerpts, so the real question is whether the Lege is even interested in trying to address the gaps in that law. On that score, there was no comment from either Dan Patrick or Dade Phelan, so at the least there’s a lot of work to be done to even get it on the radar. And in keeping with what I’ve suggested before, this isn’t a whole solution but a part of one. Combining a fix to the Naishtat law with a ban on most types of gun purchases by anyone under the age of 21 would be a start. But first, the will to act has to be there. We can have a say in that this November. | http://www.offthekuff.com/wp/?p=106663 | 2022-08-30T19:39:07Z | offthekuff.com | control | http://www.offthekuff.com/wp/?p=106663 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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